Teacher's Pet
by ToBlazePurple
Summary: Byleth is saved by a wolf during a skirmish with poachers. As she takes it in to save its life, she doesn't, nor does Fódlan, realize that the wolf may be the sign of their continent sinking to the depths. As for the wolf, all he wanted to do was play Fire Emblem Three Houses on his Nintendo Switch...
1. Dog Days Part 1

I'm starting to think there were two switches flipped at the same time.

... What am I doing? Why am I talking to myself as if someone was listening to me? Perhaps it's due to circumstances far beyond my control that I've lost all ability to speak and express human language outside my thoughts. Suddenly losing the ability to speak has been... debilitating in ways I haven't expect in such a short period. I wouldn't be surprised at the rate I'm going, I would have a mental break down if I haven't already gone insane from my lack of speech, let alone the myriad of other circumstances that plague me currently.

Still, since all I have left are my thoughts, I might as well pretend to share them. At least to talk to myself, lest I truly lose what's left of my sanity if it's not already long broken and gone.

I will introduce myself: my name is Archie Burke. Born and raised in Kingston, England. If my speech sounds more formal than usual, that may simply because my mum always fancied speaking higher class than we were. Thought it was fun, she did. Not that we did anything to stop her. If anything, I'm grateful for me dear old mum for making me secretly amazing at scrabble due to my larger vocabulary among my peers.

I was—am a huge fan of Nintendo—grew up with them as a boy.

One of the games I had just ordered was Fire Emblem: Three Houses. It was—_is_ a game that I was rather looking forward to playing. I imagined myself playing whichever side struck my fancy and then enjoying what it had to offer.

But something rather odd happened. First let me explain that my house is a little different in design, my room, in particular, has a wall switch that puts on the current of electricity of said room. Example: if I'm feeling particularly sloth-like, I can hit this switch and put off all of my electrical appliances without having to go and switch off every single one of them. The opposite is true if I want all of them on.

This fact is important because as I placed in the game and Nintendo Switch, I had forgotten that I had put it off previously and hadn't put it back on since.

I went up to simply press the other switch, but when I did, I swore I heard something. It sounded like there was a second, louder, but foreign, switch being flipped that was overlapping with the sound of my own. I checked briefly the others in my house, seeing the rest of my family doing what they've always been doing, but not spotting a sign of that second switch noise.

I should have been more cautious about that. Alas, I was far too excited to play to think much more about that. It may have been nothing, but I can't help but keep repeating that moment over and over. Something was off about it, and I should have acted sooner about it!

But that did not happen.

I went in front of my TV and activated the Nintendo Switch.

Then... darkness.

The first thought that came to mind was some kind of blackout. But there was a problem with that first assumption, it was still four PM and the sun was actually out that day. This darkness was so pitch black, I could've been fooled into thinking I was blind. And if that was bad, in one bloody second later, I found myself unable to move or feel any part of my body.

My mind jumped to the conclusion that I had somehow died. That there was some mistake in the switch this time and my electronics exploded in front of me faster than I could blink.

If you thought my mind is overthinking now, the moments after I assumed I died were some of the most torturous milliseconds of my lif— ...my... afterlife? Hmm, a rather interesting technicality if nothing else.

I won't bore you with the storm that was my thoughts because in what I think was ten seconds of death and darkness, I then saw a light.

I also won't bore you with my thoughts after seeing the light in the distance, just know that I was hoping Heaven was real and I wasn't going to see Hell.

As the light died down, my first thought was that Heaven had far more trees than I expected it to have. The next thought was that angels are some uglier bastards than I thought they'd be. Around the third and fourth realization, my mind was telling me I wasn't in Heaven, and I clearly wasn't in Hell.

The ugly angels, on further inspection, were ugly humans. Though, they were armed and seemed to be wearing medieval get up. I was also moving even though I wasn't actually moving. The reason for that paradoxical statement was that I found out I was trapped in some carriage cage, or jail wagon made of thick wood and they were carrying me somewhere.

Finally snapped out of my stupor. I demanded of them, "Hey! What's going on!?"

That is what I said. What came out was, "Bark! Bark!"

"Hey! Shut up in there! I told ya we should have put a muzzle on it before it woke up."

... It was then that I realized I was so focused on what was around me that I neglected to look at my self. For one, I noticed that my nose was much longer than I remembered having. Next was the fact there was silver fur all over my... paws and legs? The lack of opposable thumbs and the appearance of claws made me start to realize that something was horribly amiss.

By chance, there happened to be a blade a little to the right of my cage. The first thing I did was look at its reflection.

Imagine my stunned silence when I saw a silver _wolf_ for my reflection instead of my human face.

I would have stared at the reflection for eternity if not for a bump that made me lose balance—then a searing pain came from my right hind leg. I fell forward with a yelp that did not sound remotely human and noticed that my right hind leg was practically bleeding out and looked like it was the victim of a bear trap. The pain was horrible though, my leg felt like it was killing me.

Of course, I needed this pain along with all of the confusion and _bullshitery_ that's been happening in the past minute! Am I setting records?

I shake my head. As painful as this is, I was never one to sit down and take it. I started learning more about my surroundings and quickly noticed I wasn't the only caged animal these bandits... maybe _poachers_ were transporting. I could see pegasus cages ahead of me, and hear the cries of wyverns behind me. The sight of pegasus and wyverns, along with medieval bandits finally clued me into something rather extraordinary.

Those were parts of the Fire Emblem series, the very game I was about to play. I took a look back at the ugly bandits, who indeed looked like the sorry sort you'd always beat up in the tutorials of these games. And, as much as I didn't want to believe it, along with the fact that I no longer was capable of standing on two feet, my mind was piecing together the possibility that I had just been 'Tron'ed right into the game I was about to play.

...

In the course of fewer than five minutes, I lost my human body, I've been turned into a wolf, been captured and injured by bandits, found out that I'm possibly in the very game I was about to play, and now just realized that these poachers are going to skin me alive or dead for my silver fur.

If I haven't broken records of how fast shit can hit the fan, I definitely have set them.

But I am a stubborn bloke. I'm more pissed off right now than confused, and I'm depending on that rush of adrenaline for any sign of actual escape from... whatever the hell this is...

The chains around my hind legs seem strong. I bet strong enough to clamp down wyverns even. The carriage itself might not be that strong, but even if I were to force the planks off, I wouldn't get far with my injured leg and all these hobknockers around.

I look back to the sword and see my wolf reflection. At the sight of my new body, I realized that I was indeed a wolf. Not in the confirmation sense, mind you, but I remembered that wolves are known to have far sharper senses than that of humans, better stamina and speed in most cases too. There might be something I can use with this new body if I can get it to work the way I want.

My eyes closed as I try to focus my senses. I am overcome with a lot of sensory overloads due to my heightened senses, but I do my best to focus more on it with my life now on the line. My sense of hearing is outstanding, I can ever hear the clanking metal from what I assume is the front of this caravan and that's like a mile away if I'm guessing things right! My smell is amplified greatly, to the point where I can almost smell even a single drop of annoying sweat on the person beside me—ugh. These people smell as nasty as they look.

I practice for a few more seconds with my sense, learning how to hone them a little more and trying to ignore the pain in my hind leg. As I do, I smell and hear something else completely.

There's suddenly a double in the number of human heartbeats. There's also a smell of steel that has far more polish to it than that of the poachers.

Hold on a bloody tick. If I'm reading this right, these new smells and heartbeats... they're all around us and… coming in… closer…

Oh.

Uh oh.

Not even a second before I can prepare myself, I hear someone shouting out, "Now!"

The scream hits my ears louder than I'm used to, and it suddenly becomes worse when a band of armored mercenaries rushes out from behind the trees in a war cry to attack the surprised poachers. All I could hear was metal clashing and screams of death and pain before my nose could only smell blood. It was then my senses caught the sound of wood shattering and soon, the skies were filled with wyverns and Pegasus attempting to escape.

At one point, one of the poachers was knocked into my carriage with such force that it tipped over and broke my floor. Even though I still had shackles, I could move again—as much as I could with a limp and bleeding leg.

But this was the break I needed. I had to escape out of this place yesterday.

That was the plan.

Before I could enact it, I did the exact opposite and froze in my tracks.

Why?

Because I saw **_her_**.

It was hard not to know who she was. I saw her on the front cover of the game: the female version of Bylteh, the new avatar of this series. It was unmistakably her: strange cloak, weird get up, and dark green hair? I had seen the picture of both avatars so often before getting this game, I'd be crazed not to recognize her.

I watched her fight off poachers as if they were actors paid to do everything in their power to make the main character look good. These guys weren't paid actors since the blood spilling from their body and their screams of pain sounded far too real, but Bylteh really was that skilled and amazing.

But if she was here, didn't that mean that these men were part of her father's—? My thoughts stopped there. In the distance, I spotted a glint of metal shine behind the trees. My eyes were also much sharper than that of a human, I saw that it was a sniper, wearing get up similar to the poachers drawing an arrow at Byleth who was still fighting off incoming poachers.

The archer strung his arrow back as far as he could. And I long found myself running despite my leg injury.

I ran and ran, faster than I thought I ever thought I could with an injured leg. Adrenaline pumping me as the pain took a back seat. I didn't have time so I pounced right for Bylteh with the intent to push her away.

The thing was, she was still in fight mode before and after I made my leap. She was faster than I expected, and moved her blade with enough skill to slash me across the torso…

… but not fast enough to me to push her with enough force to push her out of the way of the arrow. It's just, the arrow hit the right side of my torso instead of her back.

No amount of adrenaline could stop my new wolf brain from feeling a pain that I could never top. Byleth had stepped away to re-foot herself, but my body just fell to the ground like a ragdoll, a bloody one.

I could barely keep my eyes open as she saw the arrow on my torso and looked to where it had come from.

Then… darkness.

…

…

That was… beyond confusing. Not to mention disappointing as well. I had so many questions as to what had just happened, and it seems like I had none of them answered. Though… I admit, going down saving someone else's life… that's kinda cool, even though I didn't want to. But I suppose it's not a bad way to go.

I'm sure I'm dead this time—wait.

Why am I still in so much pain?

It takes what I think is a second before I see another light—no. I-I think I'm opening my eyes? It takes a second for my eyes to adjust before I realize I'm in a room.

It was nice to know that I was back in my room after that weird dream until I realized, my room looked nothing like the room I was seeing. There was a severe lack of electronics and air conditioning in the room.

I was on a bed this time, but it felt considerably bigger than my regular one. I checked to see that I had bandages over my leg and torso. And to my right, I spotted someone sitting beside the bed looking at me with large, violet-colored eyes and green hair.

"Oh, he's awake is he?" To Byleth's right, I spotted Jeralt, her father, as told in some of the trailers of the game. He's a massive man, even more so than I expected to be. "Well, it looks like he's just going to be all right since the worst of it's already over. Tougher than he looks if he's survived all of that."

I realize something. Did these two save my life after all?

I make a few whining noises, even though I wasn't aware I was.

"Thank you," Bylteh speaks up for the first time, and I wasn't really expecting that type of voice from her. "For saving my life."

I can't even find the strength to open my mouth. Did I save her life? She also just did the same for me.

"You can calm down," Jeralt speaks up again. "We won't hurt you. Just consider this thanks for your help in our mission earlier. Didn't expect things to get so bad as they did."

I seem to whine again. Even trying to make a sound hurts my whole body still.

At that point, I felt a warm hand on my head. It seemed like Byleth was petting me to somehow ease me.

"Go to sleep. Rest."

I didn't need to be told twice. Not that I had the strength to refuse.

* * *

Remire Village. That's where I currently am.

It has been a week with the, and I found this out by utter chance, Eisner family. My wounds are mostly healed thanks to healing magic. Fancy that, real magic. On one hand, I'm glad at how fast I've been healed. On the other, I know that it can also be used against me and will be used against me without hesitation. I am not looking forward to dealing with weaponized spontaneous combustion.

While healing, I've been trying to find out as much information as I can.

I learned about a similar but different named calendar system, the baker of this town is a cheapskate and has a gambling addiction, I go into a random frenzy against squirrels for some reason, and last but certainly most annoying, I can no longer read.

I found out everyone here uses a different written language even though I can hear what everyone is speaking.

So adding on to the list of horrible things: I lost my body, I'm trapped in a wolf's body, got trapped in my video game's world, almost died not even an hour in said world, and found out I can't read books anymore.

… At this point, I'm wondering if I've gotten so insane that I went back to being sane, then back again to sane. I can in no way make this stuff up.

It doesn't help that I've had nothing to go on as to why and how I'm here in the first place. My best source to explain something like this is media, and fan fiction. While I, myself, am an avid nerd and fan, one learns very quickly not to trust fan fiction because its makers are never really… stable…

This is far beyond my wit's end. There is at least some peace I have with simply walking around the village. Some of the villagers are still wary of me even though the kids, mainly boys, think I'm pretty cool.

Things could be worse, even though in the back of my mind, I know things will get worse considering I saw a few seconds of the time skip and not a single way as to how that came to be.

It's almost amazing how much they're stacking the odds against me.

I end my walk early and head back towards the current residence of the Eisner family. Long before I reach there, I've already heard the sounds of a mock battle between wooden blades. By the time I turn the corner to their backyard, I spotted Byleth knocking down a mercenary with little effort.

Jeralt walks up to the man and offers a hand to pull him up. As he does with little effort, he tells the soldier, "Your footing needs a lot of work."

Byleth walks out of the practice field and spots me walking up to her. My body starts acting as start panting like a dog with my tongue out and my tail wags. She walks over after putting aside the training blade and pets my head.

In the past week, I think I've pretty much become Byleth's pet. It's degrading as heck, but at the same time, it is nice to have your wolf ear scratched by a beautiful woman.

"Alright!" Jeralt screams to get everyone's attention. "We're going to practice battalion runs. Everyone get ready to perform drills outside the village."

Byleth stops what she's doing and ends up following her father and the others, leaving me alone here in the training field.

While alone, a rather curious thought occurs to me. The dangers of this world are indeed numerous now that I'm inside it instead of playing it behind the safety of my screen, but this also means I might be able to fight in their rules.

Basically, what if I learn to fight with a weapon? I know I am a wolf and the idea is there to pounce on someone and bite their neck off. But even though I think I can do that, I don't want to learn how to kill people that brutally.

Heck, I don't want to kill people at all. I lived in a world where I don't need to kill to survive. Fire Emblem: Three Houses is definitely not a world like my own. The killing part, I can try to figure out more about that later even though no matter how much I prepare myself, it's going to be traumatic. The combat part is something I must address now before something else happens.

I happen to spot a dropped training blade and pick it up with my mouth. I taste wood but try to grip the handle so it wouldn't break under my jaw. I am aware of the references that I'm now copying to survive, but this still feels so impractical.

But it's either fight with a sword or bite everything that moves. I may be a wolf and may have more dog instincts overcome me more often than I'd like, but I do not like the idea of bitting every enemy's neck in the off chance they might have the plague in them.

I stalk towards a wooden dummy and get into a running position with the training blade. Then I run—I end up running too fast and trip over my own feet trying to rebalance the blade. I didn't even try to attack the dummy yet!

There's no way I can do this.

It's too bad I'm stubborn. I reposition myself, glared at the inanimate object, then bolt for it sword in the jaw once more.

* * *

Jeralt didn't know why many of the villages were crowded around his house, but there they all were, watching something in their training yard to the point where no one seemed to notice any of their return.

"Hey what's going on here?" He asked for the first time but no one seemed to hear him. he asked a second time, a bit louder, before people started to notice him and his mercenaries.

"Oh, Captain Jeralt!" One of the villagers spoke as if he had just teleported in front of them without warning. "You're back already?"

"Why is everyone gathering around my backyard?" Jeralt went straight to the point.

Another villager turned and pointed to that backyard. "You won't believe what's happening! It has to do with that silver wolf you picked up!"

Jeralt and then Byleth both walked past the crowd to see what they were all watching.

When they got to the training yard, they couldn't quite believe what they were seeing. Their training yard was littered with broken training blades that snapped at the handle. Their training dummies were torn up and battered. Lastly, they all saw the silver wolf they picked up, running at speed of a blur before jumping and slamming a blade with enough power and speed to tear of the neck of the dummy.

"Well," Jeralt and many others were understandably dumbfounded that a wild animal could use a human weapon. "That's something you don't see every day."

* * *

I've been with Jeralt's mercenaries for a little over two months. I've been somewhat of a 'mascot' now for the mercenary group. The group's even had a renown increase due to rumors spreading like wildfire about a group of mercenaries that has a trained wolf on their side.

In those two months, I have indeed helped with quests and missions. Which also means… I have killed people.

I still remember. I also remember how I killed them. I never once found it easy to just… throw away everything I was taught about the sacredness of life. I found out a 'trick' of sorts that makes it somewhat easier, even though killing is wrong even now to me.

But it's not all doom and gloom. I've bonded with the Eisen family. They're great people, even though Byleth isn't all that versed in expressing herself. One thing that annoys me is that these two haven't given me a name yet! They just call me either mutt or wolf!

Those. Are. Not. NAMES!

I can't even write my own name because it's not in their written language! What the heck!?

What's also curious is Byleth's dreams. They've been happening more and more, and I've been overhearing her talk about them to Jeralt. She talks about wars, and a little girl, who I assume to be Sothis, but outside her name and appearance, I don't know much about her.

This time though, something's different. She's talking about it so vividly, even mentioning a throne.

Something in the air changes as she says this. I smell three new smells coming this way, all of them unique.

Three. The name of the game I'm trapped in is Fire Emblem: Three Houses. I have a good guess as to who these three are. Especially as I sense their smells talking to some of the patrol guards.

But it's not just them I sense. What hits my nose is similar to when I first woke up in this world in this new body.

It smells like ugly angels, or as everyone else calls them, 'bandits'.

I tense and growl as I sense beyond the walls. My actions catch Bylteh and Jeralt's attention.

"What's wrong with you?" Jeralt asks before a soldier comes in to tell him about three young people.

This is it. I can feel it in my new body and soul. This is where I was supposed to start playing.

My game's been switched on.

* * *

A/N: Sooo... I know self-inserts are done to death. But I just thought I wanted to try something gimmicky like this after jumping the bandwagon and playing the game. Though how this works depends on how this story is received.

I love to write and this idea just seemed like a lot of fun. I hope you guys got a smile from it too.

Edit: … What. The. Feliz Navidad?! Why the heck is this story so well received not even a week in!? Where did all of you come from!? I had to rewrite this whole chapter after finding out how half-assed I made this because I thought no one would read this!

W-What!? WHAT!? I just… WHAT!?

Well, uh, I'm currently rewriting the draft for the next chapter, but for now, I guess I could leave you guys with a new extra besides the first one.

* * *

Extra: Hormones are a bitch.

I'm not going to lie, I think female Byleth is hot. Granted that's a large portion of appeal in Fire Emblem, the attractive medieval anime men and women.

But there is a problem with this. I'm a wolf.

More on to that: Byleth thinks I'm her pet. Adding more on to that: I do act like her pet and make no effort to think otherwise. So there lies the crux of my problem, she doesn't see me as a person and I've given her no reason to distrust outside my weird docile behavior and usage of human tools. The reason why this is a problem is that when she's alone with me, she has no problem stripping from her clothes to change when she needs to!

Damnit! I'm a lonely gamer boy, and even in a wolf's body, I still find Byleth attractive. But I refuse to perv on her! Why? Because me mum and father can make eternal hell look like heaven if they ever found out I treated a woman poorly. You would think, now that I'm a freaking world away from them, I shouldn't be scared of them.

You underestimate my parents. Somehow, someway, if I do return they're going to know I broke their rules if I did. Call me a coward all you want, I am not reliving the nightmare my sister made for herself when she snuck out of the house to go to a party with friends our parents didn't know.

Uggghhhh! My parents are freaking creative in their punishments!

"Is something wrong? You've been whining for some time."

I turn back and see black—before I turn and ram straight into the wall head-first with all my might.

The second before I lose consciousness, I really wish I stopped doing this every time she started stripping in the same room.

* * *

Extra Two: Fetch.

Byleth was practicing her swordplay until the training blade she was using snapped in half. She had caught the other piece before it fell, but was feeling a little more annoyed that morning and didn't feel like throwing it away properly.

She tossed the broken wooden blade over her head.

When she did, she felt a movement and a small yelp. She looked behind her to see the wolf had jumped for the thrown 'stick' and caught it in his jaw.

Archie didn't know what compelled him to do that just now. All he saw was Byleth tossing the broken blade and a second later, he realized he was in the air jumping for it.

He really didn't understand how his wolf body could just… act like such a dog sometimes. Especially now that he dropped the blade he caught with his mouth in front of Byleth. Then sat and waited in front of her while his tail wagged and he panted for air.

Byleth showed no signs of immediate emotion but bent her knees to pick up the broken blade.

Archie knew even though she didn't show emotions, she was currently focusing hard on what had just happened.

He hoped to whatever gods up there, he wasn't thinking the same thing as she was.

"Don't do it!" Alas, his words came out as a happy bark, almost as if they were saying the exact opposite of what he meant.

Byleth remained stoic but reclined her hand with the broken half of the blade behind her head as she winded back her hand.

"Fetch!" She yelled as she threw the broken half of the blade higher and longer this time.

Archie screamed in his own mind. As if he was a balloon tied to a shopping cart pushed down a steep cliff, the young man could only yell in his brain while his wolf body sped faster and faster for the thrown piece of wood.

As it started to descend, Archie's wolf body sped faster and then leaped.

"Watch out!" Archie noticed too late that as he jumped, a merchant with a cart full of cabbages had just walked right into his path.

Byleth had her eyes widened when she saw her wolf catch the stick but slam right into the cabbage cart.

"NO! MY CABBAGES!" One could hear dreams shattering by the tone of his voice. The merchant continued to wail as he fell to his knees and tried to pick up some of the smashed vegetables.

He was too engrossed in his sorrow to notice Archie, standing back up from the wreckage, glancing left and right really quick, before silently but quickly walking away from the eerily familiar merchant with the 'stick' in his maw.

Byleth remained stoic even as Archie walked back up to her with the blade still in his mouth. The man inside the wolf was just as… flummoxed… as his current master. They both shared a look.

The green-haired warrior finally spoke out. "Let's… be more careful about that."

Archie could only nod in agreement.


	2. Dog Days Part 2

My name is Archie Burke. My name is Archie Burke.

I have to keep telling myself that since I can no longer hear nor speak my name.

Because I'm a wolf.

Because I'm a man trapped in a wolf's body dropped into a video game world.

I'd be foolish not to mention the advantages. For example, heightened senses, nimble movement, stronger than expected jaw strength just to list a few. I fully expected battle and war to find me, and this new body is far more acclimated to combat, even though I still have… issues with taking life from someone even in self-defense.

That might be a luxury I can no longer afford, simply due to the fact I'm now meeting, or more specifically, Bylteh and Jeralt are now meeting the main three lords of each house: Edgelord, Upside-down guy, and Petri Dish. Or as they're more seriously known as Edelgard, Claude, and Dimitri.

"We apologize for our intrusion," The Blue Lion's leader begins speaking before giving off a polite bow despite how urgent he sounds. "We wouldn't bother you if our situation weren't dire."

Dimitri is his name, and I take a second to look him over. He looks as much as one would expect of some medieval knight. Handsome, noble, and he did have the air of a properly knightly lord. That was a stark comparison to whatever pushes him off the edge with his few seconds reveal of his time skip persona. I might have to keep an eye on him even if Bylteh doesn't choose his house.

"What do a bunch of kids like you want at this hour?" Jeralt's tone showed obvious annoyance and some amounts of hostility despite them asking for help. Many in internet forms and comments easily compared Jeralt with that of Ike—a previous Fire Emblem protagonist—or rather, mostly to his father, Greil, a skilled mercenary with a 'colorful' history.

Due to patterns of developing stories, it's rather hard not to guess that Jeralt is going to meet a similar fate to that of Greil. I'd hope not, but fate seems to have some kind of vendetta against characters with living parental figures.

"We're being pursued by a group of bandits. I can only hope that you will be so kind as to lend support."

Edelgard continued after Dimitri. "It's true. They attacked us while we were at rest at our camp."

Edelgard, the only female lord among the three. I admit, she's gorgeous. I wanted to try her house first in my playthrough. The whole, Empire thing has usually always been seen as the big bad in most media, so I'm kind of surprised that you can choose to be part of the empire this time. As for her time skip version, the deep red despite being called the Black Eagles, makes me think of Walhart of Awakening. Do they also share similarities? I don't quite know her reasons for starting a war.

"We've been separated from our companions and we're outnumbered. They're after our lives, not to mention our gold." Holy Bat-Shark-Repellant! That's Claude? He is even more gorgeous in person than his artwork! What kind of adonis stands before me? By the gods! I am a straight man in the body of a wolf, and even I believe that Claude was sculpted from the greatest minds of the Renaissance! I thought I pitied those who found out that they couldn't S-support Claude with the male avatar, now I feel as if I witnessed some kind of wrong made against them.

Well to be utterly honest, even in the post time skip, Claude seems the most stable out of the three, not that was a hard accomplishment to begin with. If Byleth chooses his house, I feel like his route might be the most morally stable than the other two.

I'm snapped temporarily out of my stupor when my senses warn me that the bandits the three were talking about were making their way here, fast. However, a second before I warn them, Jeralt starts mentioning something about their uniforms. I end up interrupting him when my body tenses to a crouch and I end up growling and baring my fangs in the direction I sense the bulk of them coming our way.

"Whoa! Easy there, fido, we won't bite! … So please don't bite us!" Claude manages to be taken back, while the other two lords seem to finally notice my presence.

"Wait, is that?" Edelgard seems to eye me curiously before another solider comes in, claiming that there is indeed a large group of bandits heading our way.

"They followed you all the way here, we can't abandon this village." Jeralt looks over to Byleth. "Let's move, I hope you're ready."

She nods once and begins to move out with the lords following after her.

I remain behind. The others are alright with this, but me? Even now I still hope I am ready, even though I probably never will be when it comes to killing.

Jeralt is quick to mobilize the other troops. However, all of their items were in caravans due to the fact we were supposed to move out by morning to a different mission. Not only did they have to get their equipment ready again, but they also had to set up the defense and take care of the villagers. To those few that were ready, Jeralt let Byleth in charge of managing the few mercenaries ahead to meet with the first wave of bandits.

As Byleth started to move with what few men she has, she's stopped by the three lords, carrying their weapons along with them. Dimitri speaks first. "Wait! Take us with you! We have endangered innocent lives in this action and it would be appalling to sit to the side and let others finish this for us."

"Agreed," Edelgard holds her ax with firmness as a sign of her determination. "We simply must make amends beyond the pay of your services."

"Surprise, surprise, we're all in agreement for once," Claude twirls an arrow in one hand while holding his bow in another. "It would leave a nasty taste in my mouth if I let others suffer for this."

"Can you all fight?" Byleth asks the three who don't even need to nod to show their answer. She then continues. "Alright, but we're facing superior numbers. I will lead the charge, and you three are to listen to what I say, I do not want any of you straying away on a battlefield and getting caught."

Now they all nod and without wasting a second, Byleth walks ahead and I follow after her. A nearby mercenary tosses a blade before I catch it with my maw.

"Wait a second." I hear Claude speak while I could feel the red—who is also technically black— and the blue one has their eyes widen. "Did you just give a wolf a blade?"

"Come on, there are bandits to fight." One of the mercenaries tries to be serious, but I can hear the suppressed laughter in his voice.

The laughter is fully suppressed when the first wave of bandits charge right for the village gate entrance. Byleth doesn't waste time and dismantles half a dozen men with little effort, though to be fair, they all just rush at her practically one at a time.

No matter how many times I see it, she is an amazing fighter. I can tell the other three are just as impressed with her fighting skill. Everyone then follows after her and soon she motions everyone to stop by pushing out an open palm while looking beyond the battlefield. No sooner than she did, she jumped back before a volley of arrows and a few spells are launched where she was originally standing.

As the smoke fades, more bandits start swarming from uphill while their archers and some mages position themselves behind the second wave of fighters.

"Tch! For bandits they sure are organized. We can't break through that line with our current number, especially with their long-range support." I overhear Claude say this out loud. He does have a point. It would be hard to fight their close range if their back row is going to send a volley of ranged attack to wear us down.

There's also the added problem of the bandits forcing a fight inside the village. If a fight breaks out there, there's no guarantee the civilians are going to survive. Which means there's added pressure to engage them out into the open to their advantage.

Yet at that moment, Bylteh turns back over to me.

No one else can notice a change in her vacant look, but I know what this one means.

I know what is about to happen. What I've been doing for a little while traveling with Jeralt and Byleth. The few missions I've been with them, I have already learned to kill. It's not easy, and I know my mind and life before this has been taught over and over that life is sacred. It's to the point where when I had my first real battle, I almost froze completely as we attacked.

But I didn't. It was an accident, a curse, and maybe a blessing that with my fear freezing me to inaction, I found a way to get past all of that 'hardwiring' from my home society.

I stopped thinking.

When I stopped thinking, something else came up. My instincts—no. The wolf's instincts took over when my human mind failed. Some time passed before I realized I was clamping on to a bloody blade with some of my body drenched in the blood of my enemies.

Byleth moves, and I know what she wants me to do. I'm ready for it even though I don't want to, I must.

She points towards the archers.

"Sic 'em!"

My switch is flipped. Archie Burke takes a back seat. The wolf takes over.

* * *

The three lords watch with varying levels of awe and surprise when the silver wolf becomes like a blur and rushes alone towards the second, much bigger wave of bandits. Another volley of arrows is shot, but like water through cracked walls, everyone watches the silver wolf avoid them then meets with the close-range fighters.

Not even a second passes, and their war cries change into wails of pain. A few bandits fall against their will as some parts of one leg, their calves, their knees, their ankles, or the unlucky ones to lose both their legs are sent flying with trails of blood. But most of the bulk of the close-range fighters are left alone when the wolf passes all of them and reaches for the group of archers behind them who are more than unprepared at what was about to happen next.

A poor soul who was so awestruck was too late to react to the wolf speeding to him. He snapped out of his stupor and drew his arrow, only to feel a sudden loss of his ability to stand. As he fell, the enemy archer saw something silver—before nothingness came over him.

The other archers and few mages among the bandits were horrified. They had watched the wolf cut off the back ankles of that one archer, and before he even fell, moved like a bullet and stabbed his sword right through the neck of the man. He was dead before he even hit the ground.

But that was their mistake: they still were shocked and stupefied.

The wolf wasn't.

The wolf moved his blade to cut through the neck and didn't hesitate to pounce right for another unsuspected archer, then another, taking each out in a brutal but horrifyingly elegant way. When they finally snap out of their stupor, it was far too late as they try to reposition themselves and had some men retreat to kill the hellish hound.

"Charge! Their backline is crippled and their front line is in disarray!"

One fighter heard the voice and turned around, only to see a woman as scary as she was beautiful to bring down a sword to cut him in half.

The bandits fell like wheat to a farmer's sickle. Even though they originally outnumbered the mercenaries, something so small was turning the tide of their fight. Byleth and the three lords led the charge, defeating the remaining bandits with ease.

One of the bandit mages saw this and turned his back. "Screw this! I'm out of here!" However, as he turned, he froze in his step as he saw the silver wolf, bitting down on an iron sword that was drenched in the blood of his allies.

He gathered magic in his palm and launched a fireball at the wolf, only for the four-legged creature to have long avoided the attack with a leap.

However, instead of stabbing or slashing, the wolf bashed his head into the stomach of the mage with enough force to make the mage's lungs contract. The mage staggered and almost lost his balance as he turned away from the wolf.

He was going to make the stupid mutt pay for that, but when he turned around, he was met with Byleth who was already swinging her sword behind her head.

"Oh sh—" He didn't even get to finish his last words before Bylteh took him down with more ease than the first wave.

* * *

"What do you mean our men are being torn apart!?" Kostas looked over to where he should have seen his men starting to pillage the village. Instead, he saw a mercenary force not only driving back his force but utterly decimating them. What was worse than he could see their numbers, it was far less than what he had sent out! And he happened to spot, from the high ground, a silver blur pounce on another archer with enough force to knock him over before a pool of blood exited a wound from his neck. "The hell!? A mercenary group? They didn't say anything about that!"

Anger got the best of Kostas as raised his ax with the rest of his men. "Come on! There's only a few of them!" He yelled as he charged with the rest of his men.

* * *

He was wrong. Bylteh's attack gave Jeralt enough time to mobilize the rest of the mercenaries and even he was able to join the battlefield.

Kostas soon realized as his forces were dwindling faster, and with enemy reinforcements, he was sure to lose.

Alas, if only he was smart enough to realize this.

"You with the blank stare! Get out of my way!" The bandit leader charged for Byleth in a surge of anger. He wasn't as sloppy as the rest of his bandit gang, but Bylteh still had an edge in avoiding his powerful blows. He made another strike, only for Bylteh to sidestep him and leave him wide open to a Combat Art: the deadly Wrath Strike, a swing of the blade strong enough to create a gust of wind as the weapon rips through the very air.

The blow of the attack sent Kostas flying and crashing on his back. Most men would have died from the impact and shock, but even after a devastating blow, he jumped back to his feet almost a moment later. Though his breathing was haggard and his body seemed to be convulsing. It was more likely pure anger and adrenaline were all that was keeping Kostas conscious.

However, instead of fighting Bylteh again. His eyes caught Edelgard finishing off one of his men. Perhaps he thought it was infuriating for a dainty looking girl to kill his men, or perhaps he didn't want to fight Bylteh once more. Either way, he screamed and rushed right for her. The white-haired lord was caught off guard with her ax swung down and instead brought out a dagger she wielded and attempted to defend herself with it. Byleth rushed in to shield the girl while the wolf tried to race in from the opposite direction to pounce on Kostas.

Kostas brought down his ax—

The blow of the attack sent Kostas flying crashing on his back. Most men would have died from the impact and shock, but even after a devastating blow, he jumped back to his feet almost a moment later. Though his breathing was haggard and his body seemed to be convulsing. It was more likely pure anger and adrenaline were all that was keeping Kostas conscious.

However, instead of fighting Bylteh again. His eyes caught Edelgard finishing off one of his men. Perhaps he thought it was infuriating for a dainty looking girl to kill his men, or perhaps he didn't want to fight Bylteh once more. Either way, he screamed and rushed right for her. The white-haired lord was caught off guard with her ax swung down and instead brought out a dagger she wielded and attempted to defend herself with it.

Byleth rushed in front of Edelgard and knocked away Kostas' ax. A second later, the silver wolf bashed Kostas in the side with his speed, causing the bandit to roll away while holding on to one of his arms.

Jeralt came in a second later, while the wolf seemed confused as to what had just happened. "Hey did you just..."

Whatever he was about to say was interrupted by a horn being heard throughout the battlefield. From another hill to the northwest, a battalion of unfamiliar knights came from the other side of the hill.

When one of their flags was raised, Kostas had a look of fear-stricken over him. "It's the Knights of Seiros! Run for it!"

The bandits all ran away as the new group came in, along with one man shouting at the top of his lungs, "The Knights of Seiros are here! We'll cut you down for terrorizing our students!" However, his war cry, while impressive, was fruitless as the bandits were now all running before he could even begin his first word. "Hey! The thieves are running away! Go after them!"

The mercenaries and the lords started to relax as the fighting ceased. The lead of the Knights of Seiros came in and eyed the three lords carefully.

"Excellent! The students are unharmed and..." His eyes then fell on Jeralt. When they did his expression changed into one of stupor and shock. "My!? Is that who I think it is?!"

Byleth and the wolf, who calmed down as the fighting ended, both looked to the man atop a horse. Jeralt, on the other hand, whispered to himself.

"Ugh, why him?"

* * *

...My name is Archie Burke. My name is Archie Burke.

I have to keep repeating my name, or else I'd forget it. It's also a good mantra to tell myself whenever I go into… 'wolf' mode. The ingrained instincts of a hunter wolf, combined with the human subconscious of problem-solving, and I become some kind of killing machine with just a few words.

It's hard to think when I let the instincts come over, and because of this, it takes me a few seconds before I regain complete control.

I'm always horrified to use this. It is getting easier each time to get back to myself after a fight, but the thought of just one mistake and Archie Burke may as well die just like the bodies this wolf killed.

On one hand, it's super useful in a fight, I've seen what I can do and I amaze myself with how this body moves like an alpha predator. On the other? I'm afraid my will isn't strong enough to keep all of my new instincts in check, especially since I can't always stop myself from even the silly dog instincts. How much more could I control the more dangerous ones?

I need to keep working on this new 'mental state' of mine. I'll have to find a way to be in control of these instincts while not letting them overwhelm me.

One thing that did help me, sort of snap me back, was Byleth. I swore I saw her shield Edelgard and with how my mind slowed things down, I thought I wasn't going to make it in time. A second later, Bylteh was able to properly defend herself and Edelgard.

I don't quite remember that from the trailers. I did not go out of my way to watch all of the game trailers beforehand, I'm sure I missed several or more of them in the hopes I would enjoy whatever surprise would come. Like before, simple oversights have come to bite my ass once more. If this is catching me off guard on the first level, how much more for the rest of this journey? I'll need to prepare in some way.

I keep a mental pin on that while I follow after Bylteh, who stands beside Jeralt when the two meet the man who seemed to recognize the leader of the mercenary band.

"Captain Jeralt!? It is you!" The man smiles even brighter than his armor, not an easy fact considering looking at it a night still seems to annoy my eyes. "Goodness, it's been ages! Don't you recognize me? It's Alois! Your old right-hand man! Well, that's how I always thought of myself anyway. It's been twenty years since you vanished without a trace. I knew in my heart you were still alive!"

Huh, I like this guy. Quite the chipper fellow, isn't he?

"You haven't changed a bit, Alois. Just as loud as ever," Ouch. Though seeing as Alois is still smiling, I doubt he minds. "And drop that 'captain' nonsense. I'm not your captain anymore. These days I'm just a wandering mercenary. One who has work to do. Goodbye, old friend."

"Right, goodbye, captain. Wait! This isn't how it ends!" That was kinda sad until I saw Alois seemingly realizing what he had just heard. Hmm, I perhaps understand why Jeralt had that type of reaction to Alois even though he seems to mean well. "I insist you return to the monastery with me!"

I can feel something change in Jeralt as he says, "Garreg Mach Monastery..." It weirdly sounds like resignation. That sounds like a story. "I suppose this was inevitable." Correction, there is a story behind this, but I don't think it's a good one.

Alois then looked over to Byleth. "And how about you, kid? Are you the captain's child?"

Byleth points over to me. "He's the child of Jeralt, I'm just a bandit."

Alois bursts into laughter. "Oh, you definitely have the captain's humor that's for sure!" To be fair, I am hairier and bushier than even male Byleth. Compared to the fresh face of both genders, I could be considered more related to Jeralt, The Magnificent Facial Hair, than either of them. "I'd love for you to see the monastery too. You will join us, won't you?"

It's subtle, but I can spot Byleth seemingly light up at the offer. I've been with her for a few months and even then I could tell that she's always wanted more from her life even though she's never said it. I've always wondered why she seemed to get close to me very quickly despite some other pets around the village. I think she's still a little lonely even though she's in her father's mercenary group. Very few talk to her and even less spend time with her as she is a fearsome fighter and she might have scared others who don't know of her.

I've never really shown fear of her. I guess that's why she likes me a little more besides the fact I saved her life without question. Despite the fact I am a wolf, I'm technically all alone without my pack like her, even though she has her dad. In a rather sad sense, I am her first real friend.

Byleth nods, which makes Jeralt look even more resigned. He doesn't want to go back there, does he?

"Is something the matter, captain?"

"Even I wouldn't run from the Knights of Seiros." Not only does he not want to go, but it seems like he doesn't even have a choice in the matter. Whoa. I feel like I want to hear less and more about this story.

"The Knights of Seiros… they do seem rather skilled."

A new voice takes me, and Bylteh by surprise as we both look around, yet Bylteh seems more surprised at me than the voice.

"My that was curious. But it'll have to wait, it seems as if your presence is required!" That—that sounds like a little girl's voice. Wait a sec! Sothis! Right! The sleeping little girl from the trailers. She's here already!? And why did that sound like it came from By…

She motions me to follow after her as I do. We're then met by the three lords of the houses.

"I appreciate your help. Your skill was beyond question, and your father, is he perhaps Jeralt the Blade Breaker? Oft praised as the strongest captain among the knights of Seiros? Have I missed anything?" Edelgard begins speaking.

"How about the wolf that went past enemy lines and made mincemeat of those archers." Claude pointed over to me as I tilted my head. "You two gotta admit that was one of the wildest things I've ever seen. I even got some second hand hurt at how he attacked those enemy archers. Say, he doesn't do that to all archers, does he?" Whoops. I might have scared the Golden Deer leader.

Byleth answers. "Only the ones that attack me." She's monotone, but there's a small teasing nature in her answer.

Claud smiles in response, clearly liking the answer he got.

"I am curious, was that wolf trained to wield a blade?" Edelgard asks while putting a hand on her chin as she observes me.

"Not quite, one day we happened to watch this guy picking up fallen training blades and practicing them on our training dummies." She blinks as she notices the look of disbelief mixed with shocked on the other three's faces. "I'm not making this up."

"Wait for a second, does your do—wolf have a name?" To be fair Claude, I do act like a dog more often than I don't. So you'd probably not insult me by calling me a dog.

"Name?" Yeah, being called 'wolf' and 'mutt' for several months has been getting old fast. Why was this only brought up now!? I'd bring it up sooner, but I can't speak human anymore!

"Y-You haven't named it?" Edelgard seemed almost taken back by this. "But he listens to your word and you two fight so well together!"

"I just..." Byleth looks over to me and I can see a small frown. "I never thought of one."

"You know," Dimitri speaks up. "I recall there being a tale of a legendary knight and his companion that was a wolf."

"Hmm? Is it a Kingdom tale?" Claude looks over to his friend.

"No, at least, I don't think it was. Legend speaks during a period long before the empire, there was a giant of a man who served as a powerful knight. This knight went by the name of Sairot. His size matched his strength in the battlefield and was a force to be reckoned with. However, they say that his only company was that of a dire wolf, a wolf known to be bigger than today's depictions. The wolf was never given a name, but along with his master, the tales state they were a fearsome pair that defended his land from invading forces, some stories even suggest he battled wicked gods along with his loyal companion." I can't help but feel like that story took inspirations from Dark Souls. And if by some chance there are Dark Souls elements here in this Fire Emblem world, I might as well point my ass up and just let the universe call me their bitch. Not my most eloquent of comparisons, but I do not need more odds stacked against me right now. "Your fighting with those bandits this day has reminded me of those stories." Dimitri finishes.

"Ah, of course!" Edelgard spoke up. "Sairot, The Wolf Knight. I thought those were simply children fairy tales until this moment."

"Sairot..." The way the word rolls off her tongue as she looks to me, makes me realize she's taken a liking to name me after that. I mean, I don't mind but then again, who is going to tremble in fear when they hear off, Archie the wolf?

Alois comes to our right. "Alright, that's enough with the small talk. It's time to head back into the monastery!"

"I was so distracted that I wasn't able to propose you join the Empire," Edelgard spoke up after hearing the knight. "Perhaps we can discuss more on our way there?"

"What? I was about to suggest the very same thing, only for the Kingdom instead!" Dimitri commented. "It would be an honor to have you and your loyal companion to join the efforts of the Kingdom."

"Do you two have any shame?" So Claude says, but even I can tell he wanted us just as bad as the other two. "I was at least going to make friends with both our friend and her fine pet before asking, but since there's no more time for pleasantries, how about joining the Alliance? We can give the wolf all you can eat every day of his life."

Ah, good looks and a silver tongue, I can see why Golden Deer is a fan favorite.

"Move along kids, we're in a bit of a rush!" Alois says again before he starts to leave.

"A talk for during the travels then," Edelgard speaks before she and the other two leave after Alois.

"My, my aren't they in a rush? Still, each of those three is most unique." I look around again, only seeing Bylteh silent thinking to herself. "Yes, I thought the same, and what's more curious as that pet of yours might be able to hear me."

Byleth seems to snap out of her thoughts and look back at me. I don't know how to respond to a voice in her head that I can hear as well—for some unknown reason—so all I do is just stare back at her.

There's a yawn coming from someone who I think is Sothis. "I wish to learn more but I'm terribly sleepy. I may sleep… but… I..." And then she falls asleep.

Even with the lack of a third party, Bylteh looks at me with that blank stare of hers. I don't know how to read it besides some cues from before. But her only action, aside from staring at me, is that she raises her hand towards me. Before I could think about my reaction, the wolf body just moves up and rubs my head on her hand before she just gives a small smile and ends up petting me like she usually does.

She kneels and seems to hold my face closer to hers. "You're an even bigger mystery than those three, aren't you?" She asks.

I nod my head since I am fairly certain my set of circumstances are much harder to explain, even if I had my ability to speak again.

Even though I nod, Bylteh has long been used to the fact that I'm weirdly smarter than the average animal. However, any question she's asked, I've never been able to answer even if I could. Her only response to some questions beforehand was silence and equally awkward stares, most of the time both.

At this point, all she can do is turn those questions into rhetorical ones, never expecting an answer no matter how curious she and I are about them. "I never did give you a name. How about… Remus?"

Remus? Wait. I know that name from somewhere.

"Alright. Remus, it is then."

My name is Archie Burke, not Remus! … I don't have a choice in the matter though, do I?

Byleth stands back up and walks after everyone. "It seems I'm packed up for a different reason now."

I shake my head though as she leaves. I have a really, really bad feeling about this. And that's not even considering the future time skip where everything is beyond screwed, including the fact it's suggesting that Bylteh might be missing those few years somehow.

Not to mention, there's still the mystery as to how and why I'm in here in the body of a wolf.

I just hope, against all odds, things will work out well.

I sigh. I repeat my mantra of calming myself down. I can see myself doing this a lot in the future.

My name is Archie Burke. My name is Archie Burke.

...

My name is now also Remus the Wolf.

* * *

A/N: I wanted to see if I could squeeze in Bylteh choosing the house for this story, but after reviewing my notes on it, I decided to stall that to next chapter since there's like… a lot to cover. Plus, I'm not that well versed with all characters yet, so if any of them seem out of character, please don't hesitate to correct me.

So um yeah? Do you guys want more of this? I just, never had a story blow up like this before and it still feels unreal. Either way, I do hope this story finds you all well and that you enjoyed it. Peace out, readers. Have a nice day.

* * *

Fetch Two: Electric Boogaloo.

"I've never seen a wolf play fetch before." It's not like Claude was complaining since he held the broken half of the training blade and threw it over his head. It was hard for him not to smile as he saw the wolf, now named Remus, run ahead of them and with a leap catch the stick in the air before landing.

Byleth noted the smile on Claude's face looked far more genuine now, or at least like that of an actual child. As Remus came back in, he hurried back to Claude with the broken blade in his maw. Yet even through that, the not-dog was pacing back and forth and even jumping to try and climb the Golden Deer leader with a stick in mouth.

"Yeesh! Heavier than you look! You almost pushed back down the mountain, mutt." Despite his words, Claude and some others found it rather hard to stay mad at a dog-wolf smiling the way pets(?) do that just seemed so obliviously happy. Claude took the blade off, but that didn't stop the dog from getting off him and still have enough energy to run around in small circles. "Well aren't you a bundle of energy?"

To the three, there was a mental note that the pet seemed expressive enough for both him and his master.

Instead of throwing, Claude turned over to Dimitri. "Why don't you give it a try? I can't hog all the fun."

Dimitri was taken by surprise, but his hand unfolded which Claude was quick to pass the broken and slightly wet stick to him.

Yet, when the broken off sword fell into his hands, one grip and it shattered into pieces.

The blonde's reaction was to look bashful and seem to bow, of all actions, to a wolf that likes to roll in mud sometimes. "Gah! I apologize sincerely. I didn't mean to grasp it that hard—"

"Careful, Dimitri. Phrasing."

"Claude!" The blonde shouted indignantly despite his face turning to the color of the Empire.

"It's alright, sometimes he breaks those things when he catches them. I keep a spare or two with me sometimes since reforging them back to weapons takes too much time when you're on the move a lot." Byleth fished her cloak and showed Dimitri another half-broken blade.

However, Dimitri raised a hand out to stop the offer. "P-Please. I'm not that good with… fragile things."

"Says the guy who once snapped a silver lance when he was surprised! We're all fragile with that strength of yours, well except maybe the princess." Claude managed to get two people to glare at him with one sentence.

Before Edelgard could chastise her fellow leader, she was distracted when Bylteh turned over to her with the stick. "Would you care to try?"

"T-There's no need for me to do so." The white-haired girl answered. It was then all four of them heard the sound of a disappointed whine.

If Remus' whines of sorrow were weapons, they could pierce the thickest of armors. The wolf seemed to have the audacity to look heartbroken over something so simple as playing fetch.

The future empress believed herself of great will and conviction. Yet, it was at this moment it was truly tested when Remus laid down and buried his nose under his front legs…

"I do not..." And then she spotted his ears drop.

Claude's smile couldn't be any bigger as he saw Edelgard sigh and take the broken blade from Byleth. The moment she did so, Remus jumped back up and started to return to his energetic self.

The realization hit the future empress as she saw this action and she ended up glaring at the Canis lupus. "You did that on purpose, didn't you?" Her voice had some venom, but she really couldn't be mad at a creature that could simply be infectiously happy with just a broken weapon as a toy.

"Playing heartstrings to get what he wants? Remus would fit well in the alliance!" Claude nudged his elbow to Dimitri.

The blonde prince rolled his eyes, but an interesting thought came to him. "Funny, his success rate with plans seems to far outstrip that of yours in such a short amount of time. Perhaps he should be the Alliance's new master tactician?"

Claude laughed at the joke… until he started to realize that Dimitri was weirdly convincing as he asked that question. His laugh was far less genuine with it's last few gasps. "...What? I can't be replaced with a mutt!"

"I don't know, the idea has a certain appeal to it. I would find Remus to be a far more dangerous adversary." Edelgard was not going to pass up the very few times where one had verbal superiority over the silver-tongued leader of the Golden Deers.

Claude placed his hands on his hips. "What is this, gang up on the alliance day? Hey, I could use some back up here for once." Claude looked over to Byleth who just seemed to be impassively watching all of this unfold.

Edelgard noticed Remus coming closer to her again. "Alright, let's just get this over with." The imperial princess threw the stick—with far more speed and distance than that of Claude's throw.

Yet here was the thing. Their groups were currently moving up a mountain, as such, some areas had cliffs where one could fall for quite a distance.

In Edelgard's haste to get this over with, she neglected to look before she threw.

"Uh, Edelgard?!" Claude spoke up with alarm as both he and Dimitri had their eyes widened at where the thrown item seemed to be heading.

"There's no need to worry." Byleth seemed to be the calmest out of all of them. "Ever since the first time we've done this, Remus has been more careful with his surroundings."

The other three looked back and saw Remus ran ahead towards a tree that had grown protruding past the edge of that cliff. The wolf raced to the edge before turning, and with a powerful leap, catching the blade and landing back on the cliff.

"Oh. That's good to know—"

CRACK!

See, the ground around that tree was not as stable as it looked. With one leap, the cliff around the tree started to collapse and fell instead of Remus.

The four raced to the edge to spot the tree falling down a slope that was below that cliff.

The good news? The slope was mostly empty, there were no giant rocks and it would likely not cause an avalanche of any kind.

The slightly less good news was that both Jeralt's mercenaries and Alois' unit were both camped at the bottom of that slope for a break while trekking up to Garreg Mach.

Down below, two people near the end of the slope heard the sound of cracking and something moving at speeds that would cause much alarm. They both looked up.

The other man was about to warn his friend and the others to move until his stupefied ally shouted out a rather bizarre curse.

"BY THE TITS OF THE GODDESS!" "Wait, what did you just say—"

The four above watched as one fallen and rolling tree decimated two highly renown, and trained army units.

Byleth turned around to see Remus obliviously dropping the blade near her person. She picked it up and looked over towards the other three, rightfully horrified, house leaders.

There was an intense moment of Byleth staring right through their souls before she stood up and placed the stick back into her cloak.

"Tell me more about Garreg Mach."

That topic was discussed with great zeal.


	3. Set The Clock

In the distance, we could finally spot our destination: the much talked of Garreg Mach Monastery. The medieval aesthetic isn't all that impressive to me. However, the church and the school environment is familiar to me since I once visited a private school.

I had visited some old but grand churches before. However, none of the constructions had a school just as old and grand as the cathedral next to it. Shortly after we had entered through the gates, we had to say goodbye to the three future leaders. They wanted to go back to their friends and assure them everything was fine. I found it amusing that they all expressed meeting up with Byleth afterward. The idea that three people, who are set to become influential leaders of three main factions, are enamored by a silent and unknown stranger feels like a cliche. Still, her getting caught up in the events to come is as necessary as the sun rising in the dawn. The question is what _my_ purpose is in all of this is, if I even have one? Will it be a hopeful one, or something far more tragic? I'll pray for the former, prepare for the latter.

I trailed after Byleth and Jeralt as they climbed the main gateway building. Then, after climbing a rather unnecessary amount of stairs, Jeralt stopped and looked up a building. At the same time, my nose found a scent that was unlike any other I smelled like a human nor wolf. My nose felt like it was smelling 'history' if that made any sense. It came from above; I lifted my head and spotted someone looking down on us.

"Rhea's here." I've known Jeralt for a little over two months. In those two months, he's come off as a calm but commanding man in nearly everything he does except the occasional dad joke and his drinking _episodes_. However, every time I've heard him speak about The Knights of Seiros, he's shown fear and resignation that is unlike the man I've come to know. Now? When looking at this Rhea woman, he's acting as if he walking to a guillotine.

My wolf eyes can absorb much more details from afar than my human ones. Rhea is another woman so beautiful that there's a chance that some of these knights may have pledged loyalty to her, not for religious reasons. Either that or I'm just so lonely that I find anyone of the opposite gender attractive. There is a possibility of it being both.

"I wonder. Did the flow of time bring you here?" The word, time, catches my attention. I remembered a strange memory when Byleth saved Edelgard. At first, I thought she was trying to shield The Imperial Princess from a fatal blow, but then the event replayed, and she ended up parrying the attack. It was like time rewind or was erased and rewritten.

... Ugh.

I watch too many of Jojo's Bizarre Adventures. Huh, now that I'm thinking about it, Byleth's clothes are weird enough to pass for a stand user. I am convinced there aren't many cloaks with open sleeves after all. There is also the fact I heard Sothis sometime before but didn't see any sign of her. If Byleth does have the ability to erase time and rewrite it and has an invisible ghost following her around, doesn't that mean...

Holy surfing caped crusaders! The newest avatar of Fire Emblem _is_ a Stand User!

"Remus!" If my master wasn't badass before, she just became even more badass by indirect reference alone!

Oh wait, she and Jeralt are walking ahead. I can't, but can, believe that I was so distracted that I didn't even notice the other two going without me.

I know it's completely useless, (useless, useless) but before things go to hell, I wonder if I can get Byleth to pose menacingly?

* * *

He was a gatekeeper. It was not the most glamorous job, considering he was in one of the most important places in all of Fódlan, but by golly, he would do his best in it! Besides, the job was pretty cool. He got to meet the famed Jeralt, The Blade Breaker in person!

Okay, so he didn't meet them, per se. He just saluted at them and pointed them in the direction of where the Arch Bishop was to meet him, his daughter, and his weird-looking dog.

But guess what!? They didn't fully close the doors behind them! So, he happened to _overhear _the fact that Jeralt's daughter was going to be a new professor here in the Officer's Academy! Whoa! That's the most exciting event that's happened in his short time as a gatekeeper!

"Hey, you!" The gatekeeper did his best not to drop his lance from the cry. He spotted a bishop walking up to him with a scowl, not a good sign at all. Was he caught _overhearing_? "This is the second floor. There are no guards stationed here. "

No guards? The gatekeeper looked around and saw that he was the only armored man in the vicinity. Then he remembered his employer telling him about how the second and third floor was off-limits to newcomers like him.

"My apologies! I'll go correct that now!" Okay, maybe this was too much excitement for a job as simple as watching a gate.

It wasn't long before the gatekeeper found his station (not before a scolding from his employer). This time he was stationed in the main reception hall. This time he will his job.

"So, I told the guys—"

"Nothing to report!" The gatekeeper was not having a good day. First, he goes to the wrong place by accident then gets scolded for it, now he gets caught off guard and repeats the phrase he's told to say to anyone that talks to him. "I apologize for that. I'm a bit jumpy today."

"Don't sweat it." Huh, this young man is so handsome. The other two he's with both look good, but this guy is like an adonis! "You're just doing your job. I think you're doing great, buddy."

The other two, a blonde man and a white-haired girl, smile but seem to be to slightly disprove of their handsome friend's behavior.

"Really? Thanks." The gatekeeper relaxes. "Now that I think about it, there is something I can report."

"Thank you. However," The white-haired girl is stopped by her handsome friend.

The handsome man smiles again before saying, "Sure, why don't you tell us any juicy bits?"

The gatekeeper is all but happy to oblige. "I saw Jeralt, The Blade Breaker, enter into the audience chamber to meet with Archbishop Rhea!"

That topic caught the three student's attention like a master fisherman to his prey. Their line of thought went like this: Jeralt happened to be the father of someone they wanted to recruit. They wanted this person, and their pet, to join their cause. So any information on them can be used as leverage to gain the upper hand and recruit her easier into their group of allies. But most of all, they wanted to do it before the other two beat them to it.

"Go on," The handsome man had a more predatory tone in his voice, but the gatekeeper was oblivious to the change in these 'nice' people.

"I wasn't supposed to be there because of a misunderstanding, but I was able to overhear something amazing about his daughter!"

What the young gatekeeper failed to realize was that he was telling this information to the last three people who deserved to hear this.

* * *

"So that's why all of you are going to help me recruit the most interesting mercenary I've ever met." Claude von Riegan had masterfully regaled the story of him, and some other two, meeting Byleth. He also happened to do this while he and a majority of his closest allies were in the Reception Hall.

"Ugh, that sounds like so much work!" Hilda Valentine Goneril did a combination of sighing and groaning.

"No, it's not! I've already made this plan to get her begging to be the professor of the Golden Deer House. See, she's stoic enough to make a chair look charismatic, but she has a super friendly pet wolf." Claude began to explain.

"A wolf?" Leonie Pinelli folded her arms. "I don't believe it. Are you sure it's not Captain Jeralt's pet?"

"I think you should be more surprised that a wolf can be a pet, Leonie." Ignatz Victor pushed up his glasses. "They aren't known to be domesticated like dogs are."

"The point is!" Claude spoke louder so that he could get back on topic. "All we have to do is be friends with a friendly creature. He'll like us so much that our future professor will have no choice but to pick us for the rest of the year to keep her friend happy."

"Am I to acknowledge that your scheme of the hour is simply to befriend some filthy mutt?" Lorenz Hellman Gloucester couldn't look more offended if he tried. "You've reached a new low, Claude."

"Considering your other schemes before, this one might be tame and simple." Lysithea von Ordelia sighed into her hand. At least this idea didn't seem like it would turn into a catastrophe, but she wasn't going to let down her guard.

"A wolf?" Marianne von Edmund whispered to herself as she thought about the creature mentioned.

"Uh, guys?" Raphael, 'Why has no one given this poor man a bigger shirt?', Kirsten caught everyone's attention even though he was in a far corner of the room and pointing outside one of the doors. "Where are all the Blue Lion students going?"

"What?" Disbelief was on Claude's face. He followed after Raphael's exclamation and walked out of the Golden Deer classroom. He and the others witnessed many of the Blue Lion students migrating towards one direction but could not guess the specific location. At that point, Claude spotted one student walking right by him and did not hesitate to catch his attention. "Hey, where are all of you going?"

* * *

Edelgard von Hresvelg confided to her friend and loyal vassal, Hubert von Vestra, that there was someone she wished to join the cause of the Empire and that this person had the choice of being the esteemed professor of her very house.

"We must convince her to become the main professor of the Black Eagles!" With that much conviction from her voice, it sounded more like a command than a suggestion. For Edelgard, this was the same thing.

Edelgard was awestruck with Byleth's ability to fight as well as lead. In a sense, she wanted to be more like her, to fight and lead with such strength. To even learn from someone of her caliber would benefit her in the long run. That was why she had to make sure Byleth would choose The Black Eagle House.

"Understood, Lady Edelgard. I shall begin the plan posthaste." What instead happened posthaste was the sound of deep snoring before the sentence ended. Edelgard and Hubert turned to their right to notice Linhardt von Hevring face-first into the book he was reading and making quite the noise despite not being awake.

"Wow, Lindhart. That must be a boring book if even you manage to sleep through it." Caspar von Bergliez slapped the sleeping man's back in good nature, even though he barely seemed to awaken from the act.

"I get it not." Petra Macneary spoke in a broken language, but there was curiosity in her voice. "Why does boring make a person sleep?"

"Sweetie," Dorothea Arnault looked to the princess of Brigid. "It's hard to explain, but have you heard the phrase, 'a body in motion, tends to stay in motion'?"

While the songstress tried to explain why boringness could cause sleep to the foreign princess, Ferdinand von Aegir took this chance to stand up from his seat. "Fear not, Edelgard! Recruiting a mercenary is but a simple task for a noble! I will find this woman and convince her to be The Black Eagle professor."

"Aaaah!?" Everyone, even Lindhart, looked back to see Bernadetta von Varley pointing outside their classroom. "Why are there so many people moving in one direction!? Are they all going to storm the weapons vault and kill me!? It's finally happened, hasn't it!?"

"Bernadetta, you are in no danger!" Edelgard walked up to her but did notice a large number of students, mostly Blue Lion students, passing by the school rooms. "But where are they all heading?"

Hubert stopped two Blue Lion students passing by their door and asked, "What are the Blue Lions up to?"

* * *

"Damn!" Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd was not one to curse, but he had to admit that planning was not his forte.

"Your Highness, please," His stalwart and tall friend, Dedue Molinaro, attempted to calm down the man pacing back and forth in the Knight's Hall. "A clear mind can think of a better plan."

A sigh escaped the prince's lips after hearing that. "You're right, Dedue. But I can't help see a disadvantage The Blue Lions have when compared to The Goldeen Deers and The Black Eagles. Edelgard has Hubert, an acclaimed and astute man, who can no doubt concoct a brilliant strategy to win over Byleth to the Black Eagles. Claude is as creative as he, dare I admit, is bold. I don't doubt he already devised some insane strategy to have Byleth interested and invested in The Golden Deer House the moment we were all told she was given the first choice in whichever house she wanted."

"A boar such as you can only charge forward. Planning has never been your strong suit." Felix Hugo Fraldarius, a childhood friend of the prince, practiced perfecting his swordplay at the training area of the hall despite the conversation going on.

It was harsh, but Dimitri found himself unable to refute the criticism, even though he knew Felix to be as sharp and to the point as the blades he uses. Planning wasn't his nor many of his allies strong suits.

"Come on, Felix, don't be so hard on his Highness," The owner of this energetic but sweet voice belonged to Ashe Ubert. "It shouldn't be hard to come up with a plan to help recruit this mercenary as the new professor for the Blue Lions! We all just gotta put our heads together!"

"You said _she_ right?" Many of the Blue Lions looked over to the owner of this voice. Sylvain Jose Gautier was a handsome young man, but also notoriously known for being a skirt chaser. "Just leave it to me, and she'll be joining the Blue Lions in no time!"

The handsome red-head felt a sting on the back of his head. He yelped in pain before he rubbed the back of his head and looked behind him to see Ingrid Brandl Galatea gripping a rolled-up scroll in her hand. "We want her to join, Sylvain, not get harassed!" She then pointed at him while holding the scroll. There was a silent threat of her using it again if Sylvain continued his path.

"I have a wonderful idea!" Mercedes von Martritz 's voice was soft and like that of a spring breeze. "Why don't we throw a tea party?"

"Oh, that's a great idea, Mercie!" Annette Fantine Dominic clasped her hands together and closed her eyes imagining all the goodies something like that would have. "We should do it for all the mercenaries too for doing a great job protecting all the three house heads and an entire village from a bandit attack."

"Brilliant!" The head of The Blue Lions couldn't help but scream out in joy after hearing something so simple. "Annette, Mercedes, the idea you both proposed is brilliant, but also simple courtesy. Those mercenaries, even if they are acclaimed, risked their lives to protect us and others we dragged into our mess. Paying them is not enough to return our gratitude."

Dimitri looked to the core members of The Blue Lion House. "Gather everyone else in our house! We're going to prepare a tea party for Captain Jeralt's Mercenaries! Dedue, ask the staff if we can borrow the mess hall for the rest of the day. Mercedes, Ashe, and Annette prepare a list of dishes and ingredients we can make ready with current supplies. Sylvain, Ingrid, and Felix gather the other students of the Blue Lion House to help host and prepare the mess hall!"

Felix started to complain. Unfortunately for him, Ingrid interrupted him and grabbed him by the sleeve, giving him no room to say no in the matter while Sylvain chased after the other two. Ashe, Mercedes, and Anette went after the first three. As they did, the three excitedly discussed what type of tea, pastries, and meals they could include for this party. Dedue gave a short bow before heading off towards the office department for a formal request, leaving Dimitri alone in the Knight Hall.

Dimitri did wonder if it was backhanded that he planned to use this party not just for repaying his gratitude and respect, but also to try and convince Byleth further into becoming the professor of the Blue Lions. This concoction felt like Claude's plan more than his own. However, since he is competing for Byleth's favor like the other two, he had no intention to lose.

* * *

The student pointed for Claude and the rest of the Golden Deer members. "His Highness has ordered his house to help prepare a massive tea party in the mess hall. It's a thank-you party to Captain Jeralt and his mercenaries for saving his life. Would you like to join us after we finish preparing? We're making many baked goods like cookies and cake to go along with some fresh tea."

"Did you say cake!?" Lysithea stopped her excitement, took a glance around her, and then coughed into her fist.

"Free food!?" To the white-haired girl's relief, Raphael was just as excited at the prospect of a free meal.

"Whoa! We should go! All the best sweets are from The Kingdom!" Hilda showed more interest in going to a free tea party than many other activities in the past month.

"I must admit if they're offering a special brew of their Iced Glacier tea, I might take them up on that offer!" Lorenz couldn't help but imagine himself taking a sip of the exotic and cold cup of tea. The simple idea of it made him more excited than he allowed himself to reveal.

"Thanks for the invite, we're looking forward to your party!" Claude spoke fast. Then he quickly turned away from the leaving student with his hand on his chin.

"Well played, Dimitri, well played." The more he thought about it, the more he had to admit, in his mind, that this plan was indeed multilayered. It's not wrong per se, but the leader of the Golden Deer could see Dimitri using this tea party to woo Byleth into becoming the professor for the Blue Lions with their exotic food and drinks. This plan benefitted the Blue Lions because a majority of their students had some background in cooking. Not only that, even he had to admit that when it was time for the Blue Lions to cook meals for the school, they had some of the best tasting food.

Was there an unwritten rule from the Kingdom that decreed that all knights must also be bakers and cooks on the side!?

Claude couldn't hope to organize something like this. Mostly because while he treasured his classmates, seeing as over half of his supposed allies wanted to join them the instant they heard such a thing, adding on to the fact many of them would rather eat food than prepare it, the chances of The Golden Deer house matching a tea party hosted by the Blue Lions was slim at best.

However, there was a reason why Claude was known as The Schemer. It was a moniker he would soon put to use.

* * *

"The Blue Lions hosting a thank-you party for the mercenaries?" Hubert hated that he was smiling the more he thought about it. "A strong move. Most of the most renown cooks in the school are from the Kingdom." The vassal of Edelgard looked back at the rest of the Black Eagles to see the usual chaos they perpetuated. "We have no hope of matching such a strategy."

Edelgard could own up to her flaws, but she wasn't expecting such a decisive strike to come from Dimitri. She underestimated the future king, but this was not going to stop her. "I refuse to lose! There must be something we can do!"

"Lady Edelgard, if I may suggest something?" Hubert's smile returned full force as something crept into his mind. "We might not have to do much per se. Rather, all we have to do is clean up the mess."

"Mess?" Edelgard turned to Hubert.

"Well, considering the mass flock, it's more than likely Claude of the Golden Deers has learned what we just learned. I have a suspicion that he too can't hope to match an exquisite invitation as the Blue Lion's tea party, but instead may try to sabotage their efforts."

Edelgard began to imagine. It is true; confrontations were not Claude's style. Claude may do something mischievious as to not lose an opportunity to snag Byleth for his house as Edelgard does. "But what will knowing that do?"

If someone else saw Hubert at that moment, they would assume his smirk to be similar to that of a demon. Then again, to some who knew him, it was sometimes the same thing. Hubert explained a plan, one that even Edelgard had to admit was shady. However, she would not back down. She wanted, no, _needed_ Byleth to be her teacher.

So be it! It was time for war—a tea party!

* * *

Oh the pain, the agony, the horrors! Woe is I! Doomed to a never-ending madness.

"Aww, look at that dog! He's rubbing his back on the carpet and squirming like a worm. It's so adorable!"

I cannot begin to describe how much I _loathe_ the fact my wolf ears can hear that from this distance. Alas, I can't refute it though. This dumb wolf, with random dog instincts, is laying on a carpet and rubbing his back on it with no sense or reason to his movements, all the while giving a goofy grin that all dogs do.

I am trying to tell this dog-wolf to stop. It is not working. The need to scratch myself drowns out whatever command I try to give this blasted body. Byleth is no help either as all she's doing is sitting beside me reading a book. Whenever our eyes meet and I silently beg for help all she does is give a small smile in return and then continues reading her book! I am in distress, woman! Do not let the happy panting fool you!

And now I'm hungry again. Will my suffering ever end!?

Despite my complaints, my ears pick up footsteps that, even though a fair distance, I could sense their weight from where I was. This new incoming presence is enough for me to take back control and roll back to my belly at least. My senses soon spot a _student_, and that word is used to the broadest of its definition because he is a behemoth of a man wearing school clothing, walking towards us.

He bows towards Byleth. "Forgive the intrusion," He sounds like a butler despite his appearance. "You are invited to a tea party hosted by the Blue Lions. It is to express gratitude to Captain Jeralt's Mercenaries for saving His Highness' life. We also wish for you to join as well."

A tea party? Well, at least I know I'm not in America. Bloody yanks.

Byleth pauses for a second before she closes her book. "Alright, thank you for the invitation."

Yes! Food! I am famished. If it's a tea party, then there's a good chance there's going to be sweets and the like. I may be a wolf, and sugar and sweets might still be poisonous to me, but I haven't eaten anything else but meat in months! My cravings are killing me! I plan to sneak and eat some sweets while Byleth and Jeralt aren't looking.

Haha! My plan is foolproof. There's no way this can backfire!

* * *

The Mess Hall was more grandiose than the name suggested. It was the size of a football stadium if you were to ask Archie. The benches and tables were long; if someone were to sit on them, they would feel the high quality by their butts.

Many from the monastery were there. Some of the knights of Seiros, the three houses, and Jeralt's Mercenaries sat in the seats. Dimitri gave a polite but short speech about thanking the mercenaries for a job well done before asking the first serving of goods and tea be sent to them.

Anette was one of the servers and was about to hand a cake to Jeralt and Byleth's table. She was so excited that she didn't notice the rug was bent and caught her foot. The result: Lady Dominic tripped and dropped the cake.

Mercedes was quick to run to her fallen friend. Someone else ran to her for a different reason. Archie spurred on by animal instincts and human cravings, ran up to the fallen cake to devour its contents.

Byleth got up from her seat to stop her strange pet from eating human food. There was a problem with this plan. The reason why was that Remus lifted his head from the cake then started _vibrating_.

Allow me to explain. The leader of the Golden Deers, Claude Von Riegan, wanted to sabotage his rival's attempt of gaining Byleth's favor. He did this by sneaking into the Mess Hall kitchen and 'tampered' with the batter for baked goods. He placed in his concoction that worked like a, shall we say, laxative. The supposed laxative would only work an hour or two, but it won't stop people from feeling _nauseous_.

Claude was quick to make his escape. However, when he left, Hubert teleported in. As if the stars had aligned, Hubert also planned to spike the sweets batter with his poison. It wasn't lethal, goddess no. Its purpose was to make people feel food poisoning much faster than one would eat rotten food. But fear not, he handed Lady Edelgard the cure. Hubert made an educated guess that Claude would try to tamper with the tea party. Hubert didn't know how the Golden Deer head would accomplish this, but the loyal vassal knew that he wouldn't touch the food. He would keep his ears open and help the Black Eagles foil any attempts made by the Goldeen Deers. Then when the poison kicks in, the Goldeen Deers will be blamed, the Blue Lion's tea party will be ruined, and the Black Eagles will swoop in with the cure that will paint them as great heroes.

Only a fool would deny wanting to be part of such a house after that.

Then the confident man poured his poison into the same batter Calude put his in.

One teleport later, Hubert disappeared. Mercedes and Anette re-entered into the kitchen while carrying bags of species.

"I've never seen you use these spices before, Mercie." The orange-haired mage spoke as she set down the bags on a nearby table.

"A nice red-haired lady sold them to me," The other girl also put a bag down on the same table. "She told me that it would make the cakes taste better, but she also warned me not to use the spice in anything but baked goods."

"Well, it's not like we're using these spices for anything else! Let's put them in and mix them with the rest!"

As one can imagine, the spices did not mix well with two different poisons.

The result of the three nonfactors mixing was... well...

Let me put it this way: Archie was currently witnessing what forever looked like while Remus was about to make Hell Hounds look like playful puppies.

Remus sped past several people before hopping on a table. His head dipped low, he inhaled a lot of air, and then he let loose an image that many would not forget.

"AaaahhhHHHOOO**OOO!**"

"That can not be good." Claude and Edelgard both whispered as they saw Remus turn back to all of them with drool flowing out of his mouth without any sign of control.

Byleth ran to reach for Remus, but the wolf moved faster than his master. A second later, an entire table and those sitting nearby were up in the air and knocked down like bowling pins.

Another second passed where another table saw a blur of silver before Remus barreled through unsuspecting knights and students.

Jeralt stood up and pointed. "Get that wolf!" That command wasn't just for his mercenaries. Everyone took that order as if Jeralt was their long-time superior.

Everyone in the Mess Hall, containing some of the most prominent knights and future leaders of the continent, was tasked to catch some stupid high wolf.

Goddess, help them all.

"Ah-ha!" Raphael jumped into the path of the wolf. He stretched out his arms then swung them in to catch the silver beast. Unfortunately, he missed, and Remus just ran around his legs. The muscular student stood up to continue his chase, but the problem was with his shirt. It couldn't handle the fast stretching, or specifically, the buttons could no longer hold themselves together. That's why when the shirt snapped; the buttons flew off like being shot from geysers.

One of the speeding buttons slammed right into the forehead of Professor Hanneman von Essar with enough force to knock him to the ground and make his forehead red.

Professor Manuela Casagranda was unfortunate enough to have her mouth open in shock when this happened. Because of that, a button flew and got stuck right in her throat. With a button trapped in her throat, Manuela was now gagging as her life depended on it which technically it was.

No matter how hard she coughed, the button wasn't coming out. Desperate, she spotted a tea set nearby and reached for the drink. She never got it. Remus ran on the table and knocked it over, preventing her from getting rid of the thing trapped in her throat.

But not to worry! When Remus passed by, Alois Rangeld launched himself to catch the crazed wolf. The Knight of Seiros missed, but instead, his head bashed into Manuela's stomach. The impact of the blow caused Manuela to cough the button out with almost the same force it went in. It's just too bad that Professor Hanneman was getting back up on his feet, only to look a little to his right then get hit again by a similar but slightly wet button in the same place as the first. A shame he was knocked down the same as the first time.

"Sylvain, Felix, we need to catch that wolf!" Ingrid was quick to run and join in the others trying to corner the silver beast.

"Of course! As soon as I catch the runaway creature, ladies will flock all over me!" The heir of house Gautier had the wrong reason for getting involved, but at least he was going to help.

Sir Fraldarius fought the urge to roll his eyes. "Why should I even get involved in something asinine as this?" Instead, he stayed behind and watched his other two childhood friends rush in to try and capture the fast-moving creature.

The battle-oriented noble was interested when he saw the wolf slip between Sylvain's legs and caused him to trip and fall right into Ingrid, who punched him off by instinct. Lady Galatea gasped before checking to see her friend was alright.

Felix watched a second as the wolf started to move around with a strange amount of poise and grace from something with a crazed look on his face. "Alright, maybe this might be interesting after all." The swordsman reached for the training blade he was wielding, but there was a blur of silver. He felt his body get yanked to the right, but he was able to stop himself from falling.

He noticed that his sword sheath was no longer attached to his waist. Felix then turned to the sound of garbled growling. Remus, while atop a table, stole his sword sheath and was shaking his head while his mouth clamped on it.

"Give that back!" The swordsman didn't hesitate to strike the wolf where he stood. After all, they said to capture the wolf. They said nothing about having to harm it.

He expected the blade to whack the head of the beast. He did not expect Remus to turn and parry his attack.

"What!?" Felix followed his initial attack up with several strikes. However, Remus dodged the first one, parried the second one, and then countered the third one with enough force to knock the wooden blade off Felix's hands! Unfortunately, the sword flew and slammed into the face of poor Professor Hanneman, who tried to get up only to get knocked down a third time.

"How in the world?" The swordsman didn't even get to finish his last word before Remus pounced on him. Felix hit the ground, and when he did, he felt something wet on his face. It took him another moment to realize that the wolf was licking him.

Felix growled and tried to grab on to the mangy mutt, but alas, he was too slow. Remus already left before he could swing his arms. The Fraldarius heir glared as he stood back up, then he heard the sound of snickers and looked to see Sylvain and Ingrid looking at him with hands over their mouths.

"Dude, you got out skilled by a wolf!" To Felix, Sylvain had the most punchable smile on his face right then.

The redhead found the wolf slobber less funny when Felix launched himself at him.

"I got 'em!" Caspar dove and caught on to Remus the moment he saw the beast slow down his pace. Sir Bergliez swelled with pride... then it was all replaced with dread as he didn't have the proper footing to _stop_ the wolf. Remus was stronger than the young man thought he'd be and even with Caspar hanging on, Remus sped around like he was as free as the wind.

So now, Caspar was no longer trying to catch Remus. He was holding on for dear life while screaming his head out.

This situation only got worse when Remus made a hard jink to the right and ran towards...

Bernadetta von Varley.

It was bad enough that she had to go to a large gathering and meet with _other people_. Then the chaos erupted. During this, the young student froze while her heart rate and thoughts went a mile a millisecond. When Remus and a screaming Caspar Bergliez started going in her direction, she did the only reasonable thing she could.

Okay no, she ran with all the frenzy of a thousand headless chickens. Leonie Pinelli was on her way to try and capture the crazed animal, and maybe (or more likely) to impress Jeralt, but then found herself five feet in the air and looking up at the ceiling. A second later, she found herself on the ground with back pain and the memory of a little girl tossing her like a pancake.

Now, before we continue explaining the chaos, there is something we would like you, the reader, to remember for later. In Lady Varley's mad dash, she had accidentally pushed a female monk over a cooking counter. The lady fell, yet during her fall, she activated one of the friers. There was now an unattended flame growing while chaos abounded.

That was why we would borrow your attention.

You may continue.

Claude was dumbfounded. "I," The word hung for a second longer than he wanted before he continued. "did not want any of this to happen."

Lorenz stopped his run before he turned with all the force of an executioner towards his house head. "Claude, what did you do this time!?"

The Golden Deer leader raised his hands as if to defend himself. "I swear I thought I perfected the poison! I didn't know it had this effect on animals!"

"**_Poison!?_**"

Lorenz and Claude, against every fiber of their beings, angled their heads to their right.

When someone thinks of a textbook definition of a knight among the students, Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd comes to mind. Lorenz and Claude, at that moment, saw the head of the Blue Lions more akin to his rumored 'boar' nickname: the way he snarled like a beast, how his eyes narrowed, and how the Golden Deer students could swear the ground beneath his feet were cracking by force.

"I-It's not poison!" Claude defended himself. "It was just a laxative of my own making!" He rubbed the back of his head while giving off a nervous laugh when none of his words were calming his rival down. "G-Guess it doesn't work with animals, huh?" The leader of Golden Deer turned to Lorenz for any form of help. However, there was nothing but empty air where a purple-haired noble should have been standing in.

Curse Lorenz for ignoring his noble obligations the one time Claude didn't want him to be!

In a different circumstance, the leader of the Golden Deers would have found it impressive for Dimitri to make a sound scarier than any animal he's heard off.

"_Claude!_"

A shame he wasn't in any of those situations.

Edelgard watched with amounts of horror and surprise when Remus continued to evade a myriad of skilled people even after dropping Caspar some time ago.

The future empress looked to Hubert with a silent look that screamed for an explanation.

He gave a small bow. "Apologizes, Lady Edelgard, I did not expect this outcome. We can still make the most of this all we need to do is," Whatever he was about to say next was interrupted by a helmet moving with enough force to blindside Hubert at his blindspot.

Edelgard looked to her left and sidestepped silverware that would have hit her. The reason why items were flying around was that Remus, in his crazed state, was now picking up fallen items such as boots, gauntlets, plates and some crushed sweets and throwing them all around with no rhyme or reason, but a lot of power. People that couldn't catch the wolf were unlucky enough to get pelted by food and other items. Some, in the heart of chaos, assumed it wasn't Remus who hit them with food but someone else. Their reaction was to retaliate, sparking a food fight to add among the chaos around them.

Edelgard heard the sound of a bark and turned behind her. Remus had come to a full stop because he was eating some thrown cake on the ground.

The root of all this chaos was right in front of her! Edelgard made her move until Claude grabbed her shoulders and spun her to hide behind her back.

"Hey, Eddie! Do you mind if I ask a small favor?" Edelgard didn't have time to respond as she saw that the _favor_ in question had just picked up a bench and split it in two for makeshift lances.

Okay, she was getting an idea of how Claude was feeling. Still, "Why are you dragging me into this!?"

"You two like each other!" Edelgard did not like the implications Claude was giving. "He'll calm down if you talk to him!"

Edelgard fought the urge to roll her eyes. But her eyes did spot Remus now eating a fallen pie. "Dimitri! Remus is right there!"

The Leader of the Blue Lions did look in the direction where Edelgard pointed. Remus stopped eating and lifted his head. There was a second of the silver beast coughing hard for a second before he stopped and went back to stuffing himself on the fallen pie.

"Yeah! Let's catch the wolf and end this nightmare!" Claude was quick to speak up.

Claude felt the pressure from Dimitri's glare. Luckily, it was far less intense than awhile ago, so the leader of the Golden Deers would take it. "I'm getting you after this, Claude."

"I didn't mean for _this_ to happen!" He intended the chaos to be far less and come out on top to impress Byleth to join Golden Deers. Claude would never say that part even if Dimitri threatened him again. He did get serious in finishing this. "Alright surround Remus so he can't run anywhere else. Do it slowly we don't want him running off again."

The three lords circled Remus even with all the flying food and the pained bodies around them. They were in position and crept slowly on the animal. They froze when Remus lifted his head towards Dimitri. He panted with a smile as they all noticed Remus was staring at the broken bench like one of his fetch sticks.

The blonde prince's eyes lit up. He got down on one knee and moved the rather large piece of wood in front of Remus' face. "Do you want to fetch?"

His bait worked as Remus turned away from Edelgard to face Dimitri. The princess didn't hesitate to swoop in and scoop up the large mutt.

"Hey, we got him!" Claude smiled before he ducked a plate full of cookies. "Now we just gotta calm everyone down."

Edelgard was having more trouble than she thought. Remus kept trashing under her grip. "I still need help with this!"

"Here, I'll help!" Dimitri stood up to help. He nor Edelgard noticed how Remus seemed to be coughing worse than a while ago.

Linhardt von Hevring woke up. The first thing he noticed was everyone around him screaming or fainted on the floor with food all over them. As he tried to look around the war zone, he happened to spot Edelgard.

He saw his house leader trying to grip a wolf.

He saw the wolf coughing badly.

He saw the wolf somehow turn towards Edelgard and then open his mouth.

After seeing what came out of the wolf's mouth and what landed on Edelgard's face, Sir Hevring decided he was having a strange nightmare and went back to sleep.

That decision made him the smartest man of the hour.

Remus ran away while Claude and Dimitri stared with wide eyes and gaping mouths. Then they took a step back as the smell hit their nose.

"Uuugggh!" Claude shivered before he pinched his nose as hard as he could. "I was wondering if it was still a laxative. Then again, wolves have different biology to humans." He sounded silly with his nose compressed.

Silliness was nothing compared to what came out of Edelgard.

"Claude," There was a pause to ensure nothing fell into her mouth when opened. "If Dimitri doesn't kill you, I will." One can see this as karma for Edelgard for thinking she can get away with sabotaging the tea party and blaming it on the Golden Deers. But no one besides her and Hubert knew of this.

Claude swallowed his spit. Luckily for the handsome young man, there was a sound that silenced the chaos around them.

It was the sound of a whistle. Everyone stopped their chasing and food fight to see who had just made the sound. Near the cooking table, Byleth was seen taking her fingers out of her mouth.

"Remus!" She shouted. At the other end of the hall, Remus had just popped his head out of a torn table cloth. The crazed wolf dog looked over to his owner.

Byleth had a slice of cake in one hand and a large table sheet in the other. "I have cake! Do you want some, boy?"

The wolf happily panted before racing right for the professor. Remus sped past many people until he reached Byleth. The second the silver wolf was about to eat the cake, Byleth grabbed the plate and tossed it over her head. In a swift movement, she used the table cloth like a net to snag Remus and pinned him down in a makeshift sack.

"Hey! Teach did it!" Claude screamed while he and many others saw Byleth pinning down her pet while it was in a sack. "It's finally over!"

Do you remember when we told you to pay attention a while back?

Byleth had a simple but effective plan, but she overlooked one detail: the cake. She threw the thing over her head, but it fell into the open flame from a while back.

Chemistry is different in other words, and because it's different, some strange things happen: like say a young man's soul being put in a wolf. Another example: did you know that if you mixed Hubert's and Claude's poison with cake batter and Special Spice, it becomes a volatile substance? Did you know that if that volatile substance is cooked in an open flame _for a second time_ after cooling down from the first time, it becomes flammable?

Everyone was about to cheer until an explosion of soot consumed them.

* * *

"Have you no intention of changing your mind, Rhea?" Seteth had distress shown in all his features. To be fair if anyone's superior, who they respected and trusted, hired someone off the streets and gave them a high-end job with much political influence, then they too would be worried. It would be insane if they didn't express worry.

Rhea wished this conversation was in a more private area, but she too wanted to go to the Tea Party hosted by the Blue Lions. Luckily for her and Seteth, there was barely a soul around as they had this discussion.

Before the man could express the many logical holes in this plan, Rhea interrupted him in the same soft but stern way she always had done. "I have made my decision, Seteth." She knew her friend was a cautious sort, and that she depended on his character these many years, but she tried to tell him that the stranger wasn't as untrustworthy as she seemed.

Seteth still was wary, more so because of Flayn. She was now there with them and whatever dangers were in the monastery could get her too.

Rhea stopped walking as they saw the Mess Hall a few feet away. "All I ask is that you trust me on this matter."

And then the Mess Hall spontaneously combusted.

There was silence between the two, even though screams of horror echoed from people and knights running out of the mess hall. One particular shriek came from Bernadette Von Varley, who was running like a woman possessed, covered with ash and traces of food on her, until she tripped near Rhea's feet.

"It's horrible!" The girl raised her head, her eyes closed shut, and hysteria and sorrow in her voice. "The cake! The wolf! The chaos!" She sobbed and cried, then grabbed on to the nearest cloth. When she did grab it, she blew her nose and tears into it.

Bernadetta froze as she grabbed on to what felt like the most exquisite silk she ever touched. Against every fiber of her being, she looked up and saw she had just blown her snot and tears into Archbishop Rhea's dress-Oh hey, darkness, how have you been my old friend?

Seteth and Rhea watched Bernadetta open her eyes then saw her pupils roll back into her head before she fell unconscious.

Rhea closed her eyes for a second before looking over to Seteth. No words needed to be said, but she could hear everything he was thinking at that moment.

More people ran out of the mess hall, covered in gunk. Among them were Jeralt and his daughter looking desperately for something despite looking much worse than the other victims.

Rhea didn't see much else. Something came out of nowhere and knocked her off her feet.

"Rhea!" Seteth cried out in alarm.

The archbishop was alarmed and taken by surprise. A second later, she felt something wet and sweet on her cheek with something standing atop of her. She realized it was the Eisner family wolf that tackled her to the ground and was now licking her face repeatedly.

Rhea couldn't help but give off a laugh even as Seteth rushed in to pick up the wolf off her.

"What is wrong with this creature!?" The man asked as he struggled to keep the wolf from squirming in his grip. Rhea, are you alright!?"

"Seteth, I'm fine." She was feeling more than fine. She always had this sense of distance from many people, even including Seteth. Having an animal show affection by happily licking her felt like somewhat of a relief after being starved of expressing other emotions.

At that moment, Seteth focused his attention on wrangling the wolf in his arms because Remus started coughing like a cat trying to spit out a hairball.

It wasn't a hairball that fell into Rhea's face.

Silence and _many_ unhinged jaws were the reactions to what people had just witnessed.

Dimitri was the first to find his words again. "Claude, if Edelgard or I don't kill you, Seteth will."

* * *

"In light of recent events," Rhea paused before saying those last two words. "With regret, sweet Remus is banned from setting paw in the mess hall henceforth."

"That's bullshit! I barely even remember what happened!" Archie tried to defend himself. But instead of his voice, all that came out was a sad whine.

Seteth coughed into his hand with more force than an actual cough. "I would rather we get rid of him altogether," No one missed the glare he gave to Remus. "But considering how this has all been one elaborate accident," The green-haired man sighed deeply. "And that no one was injured too badly, we'll leave it at that."

"But let us not stray too far from the topic." Rhea looked to Byleth. "That little event has shown me how much of an impact you've made on the students here. You have the first choice in which house you will instruct. However, even though you will choose one house, it does not mean you can't teach the other two houses."

Byleth, Remus, and even Manuela and Hanneman looked surprised by this.

"This year, I have decided that the professors will cycle and take turns teaching all three houses during the weeks," Rhea explained that she liked the idea of the three houses intermingling with each other. To further perpetuate peace, it was beneficial to have the houses intermingle with each other more often and build friendships with different factions. Rhea explained that she would even send all three houses on missions together this year to enforce this idea.

The three professors had their work cut out for them. Seteth suggested that they collaborate more this year. It would help them greatly in managing the work between houses and help Byleth understand how things work in the Officer's Academy.

With that out of the way, Rhea brought back attention to Byleth. "Now, even though you will teach all three houses, choose which house you would like to lead officially."

Archie looked up as Byleth started to think.

Everyone watched as Byleth removed her hand from her face and gave her answer.

"What!?" Archie thought to himself. "Out of all the houses, you choose the blood-hungry one-eyed king!? Isn't he the craziest of them all!?"

* * *

**A/N**: Sooo, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I thought it would be fun to have everyone make an appearance. I do like everyone from the series so just them going crazy has always been one of my favorite things to read. Also, I know the Jojo joke has been done before by funnier and better people, but I thought it would be alright for Archie to notice it by himself.

In this story, Byleth is _officially_ the professor of the Blue Lions. I choose this because one: I have a soft spot for underdogs. I see the Blue Lions as an underdog because of the following: the popularity posts say a majority choose Black Eagles while Golden Deer have all the memes. In Pokemon Go, I choose Team Instinct and later loved my decision when I found out they were the underdogs of the three. My main character in Smash Ultimate is Little Mac, who is an underdog. You can see a pattern.

The second reason ties to the first. I just wanted to see more Blue Lion stories along with the Black Eagles and Golden Deer ones.

But don't worry! All three houses will still get their moments and I'm not focusing solely on one house. Everyone's too amazing not to write about them.

That was it; I hope this story finds you well.

Peace out.


	4. The Nameless Nightmare

The Empire Victorious. She will change Fódlan for the better.

The Kingdom Victorious. He will heal all the pain Fódlan suffered.

The Alliance Victorious. He will unite all countries under a banner of peace.

The Church Victorious. She will lead Fódlan into a brighter future.

...

Then the moon bathed in boiled blood.

She watched as her ambitions and her people were overwhelmed by seas of monsters that would never understand her emotions.

He screamed as the nightmare returned and he was once more a powerless boy in a massacre. He did not survive this time.

All his plans, all his achievements, and his eardrums, they shattered from one unearthly roar.

She was the goddess, unaware of the poison seeping into the land almost a millennium ago.

The goddess reincarnate stood alone under the crimson sky, the final sky.

The last of her strength could only let her stand, let alone lift the blade she was using to support her stance.

**_It_** was there, The Beast of the Blood Oath Moon.

"W-What," She gasped, her body starting to fail by just speaking. "What are you!?"

"**More than thrice, you asked that question.**" The voice was like a cold pillow after a hot day, welcoming and soft. It betrayed the image of power and destruction only moments ago. "**You asked it once when Empire Victorious. A second after Kingdom Victorious. The third in Alliance Victorious. Here, at last, you ask in Church Victorious.**"

She did not understand. The Empire failed, The Kingdom broke down, and The Alliance abandoned. However, something told her those three dead powers did win somewhere or some_when_?

The moon started to crack like glass. The cracks spread through the sky and broke off, looking like falling stars into the seas of darkness. She was watching the death of The Sky.

"**My answer remains: I have no name to give, for there shall be no names henceforth.**"

And with that, the goddess died, drowned in blood and darkness.

As the light started to fade, the beast looked up.

"**Time has failed to stop me more than thrice. What shall you do, Final Avatar? What will you do to prevent... or ensure... _me_?**"

The worlds died, and the dead, the distorted voices of the students and teachers, they all screamed,

"The Nameless Victorious. Forevermore!"

* * *

My eyes snapped open, and I stood up from the floor as fast as my body made me move. I gasped for air even though my body refused to breathe, and my chest felt like it was about to explode from my heartbeats.

What was that nightmare!? I-I-no! Why can't I remember it!? Damnit! That felt like a clue to why I'm here!

Damn, I can't remember the dream. I am pissed and wide awake right now; it's just what I needed. I shook my head and walked towards the window. I need to focus on something else before I get bloody ticked off for no reason.

I don't know what it was about being a wolf and full moons, but here I was, sitting under a window wide awake and staring up at the moon when I should be sleeping like Byleth. In this world, it's much bigger than it is in my home. Most of the time, all I saw were gray clouds.

Byleth was in her bed, getting all the rest she could before her first day as the professor of this academy. I wonder why Rhea seemed so adamant about letting a near-stranger become a professor of a renowned school.

It doesn't make any sense to do that. But Jeralt was quick to warn Byleth, and by extension me, since I was there, that we shouldn't trust Rhea. Adding these two facts together point to something bigger that's deep beneath the surface. If there's a mystery, someone's going to try and solve it. Since Byleth is now a teacher and Jeralt is back with the knights, it falls to me, Archie Burke, Wolf Detective, to crack the case!

Also, I pretty much have nothing better to do. Who knows? This detective work might have a clue as to why I'm here in a wolf's body, perhaps find a reminder and hint of my dream even. It's easy enough for me to leave the room, I bite the doorknob after climbing the door to turn it. I make sure the door closes behind me before I enter into the world of Garreg Monastery at night. The first thing I noticed was the dead silence compared to the hustle and bustle when it was day time. As a wolf, I'm lower to the ground, which means I can't see things as well as if I was still six feet tall. It does mean that I'm going to need a birds eye's view to fix that problem. Luckily for me, this new body makes those parkour videos look like amateurs.

I spot and climb some boxes until I reach the dorm roof. A night mountain wind blows against every hair of my fur, which makes the wolf body feel so at home. Then I see beyond where there's like this 20 to 30 meters gap between this building to the next building. I feel a smile on my lips as I back up to the opposite end of the roof. The smile remains as I crouch low, my legs tense, and before I can keep track, I'm already running at my max speed. It's far too late to back out now, so I lean in.

Then I take a literal leap of faith. For a single second, everything slows down. I feel my heart rate slow down while my mind subconsciously calculates that I didn't put enough power into my leap. The other building is coming closer, but I'm already lowering more than I want to. At the last second, I'm able to reach the other end of the building, missing one of my hind legs in the landing, but able to push myself into the other roof.

You think that would stop me. Instead, my adrenaline kicks in, and I break into another sprint again. It's an experience finding out I'm addicted to adrenaline rushes. That or I'm making my self an addict by doing these things the first time. I should focus before my thoughts go wild as my run. I end up doing parkour, jumping on side roofs and several wooden catwalks like a madman while never touching the earth again. All the while, I'm memorizing and mapping out Garreg Mach Monastery.

The end of my run leads me to Reception Hall, a three-story building that's the second tallest building here outside of the Cathedral. When I got closer to the building, I noticed something on the second floor. There was light from a candle shining from one of the windows. So far, besides me and night patrol, I haven't seen anyone in there. The night patrol carries lanterns, and their lights are brighter. This candlelight is dim to the point where I wouldn't have noticed as a human. A few leaps later, I head up to the window.

Imagine my surprise to see Prince Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd reading a book with his eyes narrowed his focus like that of a laser. There's this dark grimace on his face that doesn't look at all like his usual appearance. Then again, we all have secrets.

I'll keep that in mind. I'm willing to bet that this has something to do with Dimitri's fall to insanity. Great, I have to witness this in person. I am not looking forward to that.

Something else catches my attention. For a second, I thought I spotted white, black, and red turn a corner near the class buildings. The only one I know with those colors is Edelgard.

A few jumps down later, I can't see or smell any sign of the imperial princess. What was she doing out at night? I guess all that's left is if I happen to see Claude sneaking around, which he's doing right now as I'm thinking of it.

The curious thing is that he's sneaking _in_ back to his dorms. What did he do? He does look like the type that's always thinking.

Hmm, there's a lot to take in. But I'm also ignoring the elephant in the room, or in my case, the wolf in the field.

Why and how am I here?

As I wonder about all these new questions and how to start hunting for answers, I decide to sneak back into Byleth's room.

I need something new to point me in the right direction for all these cases, but what?

"Never have I ever seen a mutt capable of using human tools so well."

I blinked after I opened the door again.

The floating green-haired, pointed-eared girl floated over to me. "That is curious. You can see and hear me, can you?"

Oh, so Sothis is a ghost after all. And besides Byleth, I can see and hear her. Yeah. Sure. Why not?

What _is_ this nonsense?

* * *

"What is this nonsense!? I was told to kill as many noble pipsqueaks as possible! No one said anything about the Knights of damned Seiros being on our trail!" Kostas screamed as he vented out his frustrations.

"You proved yourself worthless for being distracted by something so trivial." In front of Kostas was a figure in strange but exotic and powerful armor. He wore a mask that had painted flames and wore a cloak that covered his body. "I had hoped you would achieve your goal despite the setback. Instead, the long-lost captain of the knights returned, along with their child. Something is interesting about them at least."

Kostas didn't like that they weren't planning revenge right off the bat. "Hey, this isn't what I agreed to!"

The mysterious masked figure ignored the bandit in front. "To hire a mercenary as a professor? What was that woman thinking?" Although he said that, there was something in his voice that seemed almost happy about it.

"Are you listening to me!?" Now Kostas was more annoyed. "How do we finish this!?"

"The only thing finished is you."

"W-What!?" Kostas flinched from the power of that one sentence.

"Underestimating the knights was an amateur mistake, one that you will pay for dearly. The road to eternal torment awaits you. I only hope your replacements aren't as stupid." In a blink of an eye, the masked figure vanished.

Kostas ran to the empty spot. "Wait! Damn you! Get back here!" He screamed and wailed. When silence was his only response, he grunted and punched the rock next to him.

"No! No, this can't be how it ends!" The bandit leader tried to tell himself that.

"Do forgive my friend. He can be unnecessarily harsh. There is still something we can do to help you."

Kostas turned his head from the sound of the new, but friendly sounding voice. His eyes narrowed. "What the hell is with you people and masks?!"

The new person in front of Kostas was also wearing a mask. However, that seemed to be the only similarity they shared. This figure was wearing a white collared shirt with a long black overcoat that was long enough to have black coattails. His dress pants and had black on the right side, white on the left. His dress shoes were also different. His left foot had a black shoe, and his right foot had a white shoe. What made him a little different was that he wore a gray top hat over his head and mask. Unlike the last figure, this new man's mask was an empty gray slate. There wasn't any marking on it whatsoever.

"What?" This new man was also far more expressive than the last stranger. "I have a mask on?" Kostas raised his brow as the man reached for his face, showing that he had a white glove on his right hand and a black glove on his left hand. Even though he was wearing a mask, the bandit leader ould feel genuine surprise on the new stranger's face.

"Oh hey; I do! When the heck did I put it on?" He tilted his head, but he didn't take off the mask. "Ah well, it's not like it's any different without it."

A period of silence passed after this new stranger said this. Kostas raised his brow as he waited for him to keep talking.

He didn't.

"Hey! Why are you silent?!" The bandit leader screamed at him.

The masked figure tilted his head towards Kostas. "Huh? Who are you?"

Kostas could only drop his jaw at the question. "Are you messing with me!? You just said you'd help me!" He was this close to taking out his weapon and using it to cleave the guy in two right then and there.

"I did?" Kostas could feel the man's brow raise before he snapped his head around. The man seemed surprised and looked around him with urgency. "Whoa! Where the heck am I?!"

"You are messing with me!" Kostas took out his weapon. "I'll kill you!"

"Wait!" The man shouted by throwing out his two hands. "I'm sorry to confuse you. I think I know whats going on. You see, my mind doesn't _work_ as most do. Things I should remember like an hour ago, I don't." He reached for something in his long coat. "And curiously, things I don't remember, I _know_."

When this stranger took out his hand, there was a glass vial of deep pink-purple ooze in it. "For example, this drink can give you power like you would not believe."

"Power?" Kostas trailed his eyes towards the vial. There was something about it, even in this cloudy night, that made it look like it was glowing. While the bandit leader was staring at the vial, he felt like he was falling into a trance. His ears started to pick up whispers, but that was impossible since a liquid couldn't speak.

The bandit leader shook his head, then pointed at the glass flask. "What is _that_?"

"What's what?" The second masked stranger repeated.

Kostas felt his face falling into a deadpan. "That vial you're holding!" He pointed again.

"I'm holding a vial?" The one time Kostas was trying to be patient, and it was bitting him in the butt hard. "Whoa! Look at that! It's all glowy and stuff!" The masked man looked to Kostas with a glance as blank as his mask. "Who are you again?"

"Kostas!" The man stomped his foot.

"Oh." The masked figure took another second to absorb the information. "Well, you see, Costco,"

"Kostas!" The bandit leader interrupted.

"Constantinople," The masked stranger went on before Kostas could correct him again, "All you need to do is drink this vial, and you get something that everyone wants: a Crest."

The bandit's anger vanished and became replaced with disbelief and confusion. "T-That's impossible! Only royals are born with Crests!"

"Wrong," That one word seemed to be like flipping a switch. The tone and air around the stranger shifted as he caressed the vial in his hands. "Many don't understand how blood works. I don't remember how I understand, but I as I said: things I don't remember, I _know_."

Kostas felt a chill come up his spine. He almost wished that the flame mask was back. But at the same time, was this real?

Was it as real as the threat of the Knights of Seiros about to kill him? "That flask, it can give me a crest like the Ten Elites? Or the Four Saints?"

The masked stranger stepped forward to him and held out the hand with the flask. "Oh no, nothing as weak as those."

Kostas couldn't believe it.

But he also didn't want to die.

The bandit leader reached for the vial but stopped short. He looked up and asked, "Who are you?"

The pause in the air was different than before. Kostas couldn't read the stranger in front of him because of the mask, but he swore there was a smile behind it, one that smiled because of something grand a bandit like him couldn't hope to understand.

"Romulus. Wait—no." Kostas frowned when he heard the much sillier tone come back out. "That name is taken. Archie Burke? No, I feel like I've heard that name before. Did I forget my name again? I swore I wrote it down. Right! I wrote it down!"

Kostas lost all interest as the man fished his pockets for a piece of paper.

"Ah, here it is! My name is—"

"Gimme the damn vial."

* * *

Byleth was an early riser. She's used to her father's strict training ever since she could hold a blade. What she wasn't used to was that the first thing she saw when she woke up was a ghost girl staring at her wolf-dog.

"Now, be a good dog and roll over!" Haughty for a ghost that could manipulate time, huh? "Why aren't you listening, are you deaf? I know you aren't!"

Remus gave a sad whine noise before looking over to Byleth. The action made the ghost girl do the same. "Finally, I see you're awake."

"Sothis?" Byleth got up from her bed, already feeling a headache incoming.

"It has taken me a while, but I've decided to see more than just through your human eyes." She gave a little twirl but beamed with pride as if she had won first in a marathon. "Does my form not amaze you?"

Byleth wished harder than anyone at that moment that she could go back to bed.

Alas, she had work to do.

* * *

Byleth never went to school. Jeralt homeschooled her, as much as homeschool could teach when they were traveling the continent. Does it count as homeschool when she never had a real home? Is this something regular schools taught? Why did Rhea hire her as a professor?

"Garreg Mach Monastery is a rather grand place. I quite like it here."

"Awwhoo!"

"It could do without all the scamps littered about." Even though there were a lot of stray cats and dogs around, Sothis so obviously meant Remus.

And why was a ghost girl that no one but her wolf and she could see and hear following her around?

With all these questions, Byleth supposed she should be a student than a professor.

In the early dawn, Byleth met with Professor Hanneman and Professor Manuela. They gave her some excellent advice when they weren't arguing about everything that annoyed each other.

So basically, she learned nothing from her peers that were supposed to help her.

She already missed her days of being a mercenary with the only thing she had to worry about was Remus attacking random squirrels.

Byleth made her way towards her first class of the day. She entered the massive auditorium and couldn't help but feel a little culture-shocked. She has been to mansions before by some jobs her father took for nobles, but those grand places were gaudy and a show of wealth. The classroom was for teaching fresh minds about the future. Byleth could understand that much. What she couldn't wrap her head around was the fact she was teaching people her age! Not only that, these were people who would lead the future of all three major powers in this continent! She would repeat the question because it always tied to it: what was Rhea thinking making her a teacher?

By the time she entered, even though it was early, there were eight students already there, including one familiar face.

"Professor Eisner!" Dimitri called out before he and the other Blue Lions followed to crowd around her. "I meant to introduce you to everyone during the tea party." There was a silent emotion that came out with those last two words, along with a reminder to get Claude back.

Dimitri helped introduce the 'head' members of the Blue Lions. The introductions dragged on with side commentary and banter that ranged from events in the disaster to personal quirks. Despite most coming from noble lineage, most of the Blue Lions acted very down to earth. Their introduction did take a lot of time as now other students tricked into the class. The morning class soon would start.

Remus and Sothis noticed Byleth. She seemed frozen, her expression emptier than usual.

"Professor?" They both looked back to see Dimitri, who turned around from walking away. There was a second of silence while he turned back to her before his eyes widened. "Ah, forgive me. I was so excited to have you teach that I forgot that you have never done this before. However, I am not worried. I believe you will do spectacularly."

Byleth blinked. "Thank you for your show of faith." With that, she turned to her podium while Dimitri went to take his seat.

The school bell rang, and the classroom filled with over a hundred students. Byleth let another second pass so everyone could focus on her.

She inhaled then spoke her first words as a teacher. "The only ones who should kill are those ready to be killed."

Archie blinked at the familiar phrase while the rest did not expect blunt and dark words to be the first things they heard that morning, but Byleth continued. "Those were the first words my father taught me, and all of his recruits before he started training us. They are not pretty, and it's not meant to be. However, these words have made many of Jeralt's mercenaries formidable warriors because of mentality. My father's words remind us that we can die at any moment and that we must do all that we can to survive because, in a battle, you and your enemy are doing the same actions: making sure you live while making sure your enemy doesn't. As your professor, my job is to make sure you do it better than your enemies." She pointed out with a hand. "I will be harsh. I will be strict, but if I do not do this, you will find yourself losing more than just your life when and if you participate in a real battle: you may cause the loss of your allies or be the reason for defeat."

Byleth paused and let her students absorb her introduction speech. "With that in mind, let us begin."

* * *

"And that's when I said, 'That's not a rabid raccoon: that's my wife'!"

Kostas refused to believe his ears at that moment. There was no way his men were laughing at that horrible joke the masked amnesiac just made. However, with how this canyon worked, he could also hear the echoes of their laughter through this damned place.

"You're married?"

"I am?" The masked stranger responded to the question with another question. That was the man in a nutshell: no answers and a lot of questions.

Alright, he had enough of this. "Hey! Masked freak! Get your ass over here! You said we needed to get to the Red Canyon as quickly as possible!"

"Ah! Righty-o, Koala! See ya later mates we'll moon slide into the Jabberwock!" He gave the other bandits finger gun motions while the others waved goodbye and continued to party and drink. As this masked amnesiac walked up to Kostas, he said something of interest. "I have no idea what I just said and did." Okay, it wasn't of interest, but the stranger did find it interesting himself.

It took a lot for Kostas not to slap his forehead at that moment. "Hurry up and find that last ingredient! We're sitting ducks here!"

"No, you have an advantage here." He walked past the bandit leader. "They're going to attack in at least a month, and by then, these ruins will make an excellent base for you. It'll also give me enough time to set up a future project."

"How do you know they'll attack in a month?" Kostas followed after the stranger.

"They'll attack in a month? How'd you know that?" At this point, Kostas just rolled his eyes. Everything about this man was just confusing, even to the man himself! How did this man lead them away from the Knights of Seiros?

It was weird; the last guy was all show and hot air. This second guy was even getting close and personal with not just him but his men. Both had these larger than life personalities. Kostas was a bandit, but he figured out something big was going on with these masked freaks. He should have never got involved with them, but the promise of riches made him bite like a fish to the hooked bait.

Then again, this was probably better than being left for dead by the other guy.

The man and Kostas kept walking past their camp until they reached the ruins of some large building. The bandit leader watched as the masked amnesiac walked to the center of the building. He crouched low, placing his left hand on the ground.

And then the ground started to glow.

Kostas took a step back as a light circle started to form around the stranger. The ground rumbled until the circle was complete. The very earth opened up and created a downward spiral staircase. The stranger put his hands behind his back before he walked down the stairs. Kostas could only gape at the secret entrance before a voice called out from the hole, "Coca-cola! Hey, where'd you go?"

At that point, a small part of Kostas' brain started to wonder if being left for dead was the better option.

Kostas followed the stranger down the staircase. Kostas descended, and as he did, he noticed the ground was no longer earth and dirt. It started to look like metal, steel, and what were these lines of light in between them?

The bandit leader heard the sound of the stranger's humming down below him. When he reached the end, he saw something he couldn't quite comprehend. The hallway felt ancient, but they felt so new to him. But the walls were torn and ripped apart by something that looked nothing like a sword or ax. Steel desks littered the hallway floor while strange glass looking chalkboards were attached to these broken walls. The chalkboards had faded, but almost alien symbols on them. Kostas had to watch his feet because it looked like he was stepping on small glass.

At the end of the hallway was a door with a symbol Kostas could recognize: the Sieros Symbol, even if it looked slightly different. The masked stranger was waiting for him in front of it.

"What the hell is this place?" Kostas looked around. Every fiber of his body wailed at him; screamed at him to get out of there and never look back.

"Your question is a good as mine." The bandit leader was about to yell. He was sick and tired of not getting any answers, and this was dancing on his last nerve.

But he didn't. Kostas didn't do any of that because of the tone on the stranger's voice. It sounded serious, almost _melancholic_? His instincts told him now was not the time to lose his patience lest he loses something that won't come back.

The stranger with a top hat placed his hand on the door. When he did, there was a low humming noise before the giant symbol on the door glowed and opened up.

Broken was the word used to describe the hallway. Kostas didn't know any word, even though he didn't have an impressive vocabulary, to describe the room he saw.

All he saw were piles of dust, but something in his mind told him that it was once something else.

The stranger walked into the room and swung his right arm. There was a soft hum of magic followed by a pile of dust that blew over.

"Ah, good. It's here," The masked stranger knelt to something on the ground. Kostas sidestepped to see what the man was doing. He was able to get a better view of what the man was cradling: a sapling with golden leaves.

The stranger stood back up and turned to the bandit leader.

"Alright, Kostas," For the first time in his life, the bandit leader did not want to hear the sound of his name. "Let us begin."

* * *

**A/N**: I think I'm cutting this chapter a little short.

Anyway, I introduced a new villain! Whooo! I hope you all like him even though I haven't revealed his 'name' yet. (Hehe a _nameless_ person eh? Does that get your brain cranking? Is it really so simple? Or is there something wrong with this idea like the character himself?) I had a lot of fun writing an amnesiac for a villain! I have a lot of exciting ideas for him. I hope you'll like it. Also, I already said this in a PM, but I'm not making him out of anywhere, I made sure that he could have reasonably existed in the game under a different set of circumstances. I did that because I don't want to undermine what's already written for the story, but rather add to it.

* * *

Special: The Training Montage.

Masked Amnesiac: _Let's get down to business, to defeat The Knights!~_

(Kostas' bandits line up, but all of them can't even form a straight line.)

Masked Amnesiac: _Did they send me children, when I asked for adults?!~_

(They try and do a few simple drills, but barely anyone besides Kostas can do it.)

Masked Amnesiac: _You're the saddest bunch I've ever met, but you can bet before we're through!~_

(MA walks up to a runt of a bandit and looms over him.)

Masked Amnesiac: _Sonny, I'll make a knight out of you!~_

Bandit: Wait, but I thought we were trying to beat the knights—

Masked Amnesiac: Don't interrupt my groove!

* * *

Byleth: _Tranquil as a forest but on fire within!~_

Sothis: (In disbelief.) Is she singing?

Archie/Remus: *confused whines* (Meanwhile, his mind wonders if he's gone insane again to hear a familiar song.)

Byleth: _Once you find your center, you are sure to win!~_

(The Three Houses are forced to run laps around Garreg Mach. Many but the physically active fall in the first lap.)

Byleth: _You're a spineless, pale, pathetic lot, and you haven't got a clue!~_

_Somehow I'll make a Knight out of you!_

Sothis: I believe a corpse is what she's making them out to be.

Ignatz: _I'm never gonna catch my breath!_

Sylvain: _Say goodbye to those ladies who knew me!_

Kostas: _Boy, was I a fool in school for leaving it all! _

Claude: _Teach's got 'em scared to death!_

Dimitri: _Hope she doesn't see right through me!_

Edelgard: _Now I really wish that I knew how to swim!_

Chorus: (Bandits and Students) **Be a Knight!**

We must be swift as the coursing river!

**Be a Knight!**

With all the force of a great typhoon!

**Be a Knight!**

With all the strength of a raging fire

Mysterious as the dark side of the moon!

* * *

**A/N**: Please don't ask why I made that last extra. I have no answer to give. I don't think, even for this story, that Byleth and the others would sing randomly as fun as I want to believe otherwise. However, Masked Amnesiac man would. He would in a heartbeat. After all, everyone knows great villains have great singing voices.

* * *

Byleth: The Bi Queen. (Not Canon to this story!)

I knew Byleth was hot, but what I couldn't bloody understand was that _everyone_ else was smitten with Byleth. I should have seen it sooner when the Goddess Tower opened, over 20 students all followed after Byleth when she went in.

Instead of praying like the stories, they all ended up doing extra homework from an impromptu class.

I know she's the main character, but she's able to put harem protagonists to shame when five years later: she's even wooed all of the Knights of Seiros except Alois!

See, now that we've restored peace to the world, Byleth is now the Archbishop.

Guess what her first new rule was?

Go on. Guess.

I'll give you a hint: since Alois believes himself to be Byleth's unofficial older brother, he's ecstatic at the fact he's going to have so many new step-siblings.

Goddess bless that loveable man.

That's right. Her first act as Archbishop? Allow Polygamy.

You would think there might be _some _people against this idea! There were until they met Byleth in person. Now they're just jealous they couldn't be a part of her Harem, which includes Rhea, her grandmother/daughter! Fire Emblem how do you keep coming up with these kinks!?

At this point, I realized that the people of this world aren't intricate people with complex emotions and ties that start a war for their ironclad beliefs. They're all just horny people who have too much pent up aggression and need a mass orgy for release.

And if that's true, it means my reason for coming to this world and being turned into a wolf was so that I could be her _wingman_!

Prove me wrong. By all the gods of the multiverses, prove me wrong damnit!

* * *

**A/N**: A comic dub I saw online compelled me to write this second extra. But no seriously, call me stupid and tell me a good reason why everyone doesn't just need to get boned by Byleth to be a better person and not make stupid mistakes.

Please.


	5. Get Ya Head in D Game!

The grass was cold and wet, but it did nothing to cushion his fall. A groan escaped him as his head saw the clouded sky.

"You're much better with bows than axes, Ashe." The voice was vibrant, brave, and there was such confidence in his tone. There was a hand raised to the face of the down boy. It was gloved, fully plated, but it still looked so warm and inviting despite the strength of his grip. "I still think a sword would be a better place to start your close combat training. Perhaps even unarmed combat will suit you well."

Ashe tried to wipe himself off, but he couldn't stop a smile coming to his face. "The last time we did that, Chris, I didn't even last ten seconds in the ring!" He recalled how much his bottom hurt that day. "I did better this time!"

There was a soft scoff from the man. "You did better, only because of all those intimate affairs with the floor and your butt." Ashe rolled his eyes. He hated how his adopted brother had a tongue as sharp as his lance. "I still feel axes aren't suited to your strength, but if you're insistent on it, I do know some exercises that can help."

The former thief was excited to hear that. He was happy to be with his new brother, jokes about adulterous behinds notwithstanding.

"Lord Christophe!" A soldier ran towards the two that interrupted their training. "An urgent report!" The soldier held a letter that the older brother quickly opened it up.

Ashe watched as his brother's easygoing face turned into a hardened and angry glare.

"What!? Who changed the King's Security Details?! If a random bandit party beset the king and his royal guard in his travel to Duscur, they would outnumber them 3 to 1 with these numbers!"

"I-I was just told to give it to you, sir." The soldier took a step back.

Seeing the fear in the messenger's actions, Christophe sighed. "Forgive me. It's not your fault, Theo." He folded the letter. "But get my horse ready. I need to meet with Glenn."

The messenger saluted before running off.

"Chris?" Ashe didn't know what was going on, but he felt his adopted brother's emotions. It wasn't as pleasant as it was.

"I apologize, Ashe. It seems I have to cut this training short."

"W-What's going on? Why do you have to leave?"

The older brother relaxed and exhaled as he did so. "A secret mission by the king himself. I can't tell father, but you can keep this between us, right?"

"A secret mission!? By the king himself!?" Ashe almost always found himself in awe of his adopted brother. A renowned knight and kind man? Christophe even resembled a living breathing knight from one of the stories he's read. There were many times where Ashe didn't know what he did to deserve Lord Lonato and Christophe, but he knew it wasn't enough.

"Shhh!" The older brother lifted a finger to his mouth. He then smiled, winked, and rubbed his hand to mess with Ashe's hair. "I'll be gone for a bit. Take care of everyone while I'm gone, okay?"

Ashe could do nothing but nod. "I will! And when you come back, you can teach me how to use an ax more!"

Christophe gave a smile that looked more like relief. "I'm looking forward to it, Sir Adulterous Butt."

"Chris!?" Ashe screamed at his older brother who laughed as he left. Feeling bitter about that comment, Ashe wished for something to shame his brother over that he could get him to stop joking about his behind.

Ashe regretted ever making that wish. More than likely, he will regret it for the rest of his life.

Ashe woke up. The first thing he saw wasn't the cloudy skies of his homeland, but the ceiling of the Officer's Academy. However, it was a bit damp like the grass of his home. It was because he found tears near his eyes.

After cleaning himself up a bit, Ashe thought back to his dream. He hasn't thought of Christophe in nearly four years, why did that dream come to him? The former thief knew Christophe for only three years, but it was hard for him not to cherish how much of an impact he had on everyone's lives. Ashe could only imagine the depths of Lord Lonato's sorrow when they heard it.

He shook his head. Perhaps it was a reminder from his dead brother to write to their father. It has been a while.

* * *

"I can't believe they canceled the mock battle at the end of Great Tree Moon!"

If one were to look to Lorenz, they would spot a vein appear on his forehead. Sir Gloucester then turned his head towards the head of the Golden Deers. "May I remind you, Claude, as punishment for the loss of the mess hall, the church canceled the prebattle?! If that wasn't enough, we suffered nothing but nightmarish meals this past week due to the destroyed kitchen!"

"Whaaat? The food isn't that bad." Claude had to give the cooks credit. They had at least something to feed everyone while waiting for a new shipment of cooking utensils.

"No, Claude, it is!" Lady Ordelia slammed her book closed and glared at her house leader to the point where vipers would be impressed. "We've had nothing but gruel these past two weeks! Gruel! That explosion got to the food, and we've only been on limited rations!"

"Please," The Golden Deers looked over to poor Raphael. He was looking at his arms as if they were growing a second head. "I need food!" He turned to them while he showed his arms. "I can't even have a second serving of gruel! My muscles are shrinking because of the lack of protein!"

He showed off his muscles. "Look, aren't they smaller than before!?"

Not a single person could tell the difference.

"No! I can't let my muscles shrink! I need protein!" Raphael suddenly froze and turned behind him. "Wait. Maybe there is protein. I just haven't been looking hard enough." Everyone followed his view towards the window where outside a cat was licking itself clean.

No one liked how Raphael was staring at the cat.

"This is all your fault, Claude!" Lysithea pointed at her house leader. The white-haired mage was irritable, and maybe it had something to do with the fact that she hasn't had something sweet like cake during the forced fasting.

"My fault?! If anything, you guys should blame him!" Claude pointed over to the wolf, who raised his head from sleeping until that moment. "He's the one who ruined everything!"

Everyone turned back to Remus, who was happily panting at them before looking back at Claude.

"Wasn't your poison what caused him to go crazy in the first place?" Hilda pointed out.

Claude sighed then leaned into his seat. "Mutiny. I knew this would happen. I am truly alone in the world." The Golden Deer head felt something damp near his right hand and saw Remus came up and was licking it. When he moved his hand up, Remus looked up to him and smiled at him. "Wow, you are good at that! Mind using that ability to calm down everyone else?" Claude found it hard to stay mad at the creature, even if he messed up his brilliant plan.

"Time's up. Your break is over." Byleth came in and removed the hourglass on her podium. "Now let's continue with the lesson."

* * *

"They escaped?" Seteth repeated in disbelief when he heard the report. "How could a random bandit group escape our battalion?"

"I'm sorry, sir. The message said there was a thick fog that suddenly came over them, and by the time it cleared, there were no signs of them anymore. Our trackers are en route to find where they went."

The green-haired man nodded. "Thank you, Liak. You may leave." The messenger left the room after a polite bow.

Seteth couldn't help but see something off about that report. First, a bandit group was able to sneak into Central Church territory without any of their scouts alarming them. Second, they attacked the students at the same time they also happened to be away from the Monastery before the start of the school year? And now, that very same bandit group escaped by fog in the middle of the night? These questions seemed to be too perfect to be a coincidence. Was this the work of an unseen hand? And why?

There's also the question of not just outward threats, but inward as well. Why was Rhea so insistent on making Jeralt's child a teacher here? He trusted her, but this was the first time in a long time that Rhea kept a secret from him. He was second in command to the archbishop in all but name, so he thought she trusted him enough to share all her secrets, but this was not the case. He still believed in Rhea, but all of this felt akin to someone stacking dominoes: all this set up for one little push that will destroy them all.

Seteth sighed into his hands. Perhaps he should reconsider sending Flayn back to hiding.

* * *

Okay, what is that smell? I felt it before from Rhea and Seteth, but this one feels similar but different. I believe it's worth checking out in the long run in case I do find a proper answer for all these questions I have, so I tailed the scent all the way here to the fishing area.

Of course, while I am serious. I don't think people are taking me seriously. I'm focusing hard on the scent, and because of that, I'm sniffing the ground like a bloodhound. I feel like those dogs in media that move while keeping their nose barely an inch above the ground.

Unfortunately for me, the scent fades as I get closer to the water. That's going to be a thing I need to take a note of later: the fact water can erase scents from me for a while. What's worse is my nose smells fish, a lot of them.

But I am a stubborn bloke. I keep my head down as I try to pick up the faintest smell of that timeless scent. Because my line of sight is limited to looking at the ground, I get spoked when a dead and bloody fish head gets into my line of sight.

I yelped and jumped back, but why did my whine sound like a girl's scream? My mind looked past the pile of dead fish where a girl jumped and screamed at the same time I did. She was, to the surprise of no one, gorgeous. She had green hair similar to that of Seteth and Rhea, where they all family or something? I'd wager she's the third strange scent here.

"Oh!" She spoke before her body language told me she was relaxing. "You surprised me. You're much bigger than the dogs here, are you perhaps the wolf pet of the new professor I've heard so much about?"

I nod my head in response.

Her response to my response was to widen her eyes. "Did you understand my question?"

I nod again before a howl escapes me.

"That is," She pauses a second as I spot her eyes narrowing. "Amazing!" Then her eyes light up, and she's smiling like a loon. "I've never seen or heard of an animal understanding human speech before! How did you do that?"

Well, my lady, it involves cosmic fuckery and drawing the short straw in all the cosmos. I swear; why does this happen to me but not getting the winning lottery ticket? I am sure my chances of winning the ticket was infinitely higher than this!

"Oh! I neglected the fact I cannot understand you despite you understanding me." The girl frowned, looking apologetic at her realization. "Wait! If you understand speech, that means you can also express it! If not through words then perhaps," She trailed off before her voice rose. "Do not eat the fish! That's for the cooks later today! I offered to help gather fish after they had fixed one of the stoves!"

I blinked as I realized I was about to eat the fish I smelled a while ago. Stupid dog instincts, eating whatever is in my line of sight. The girl shooed me away from the fish before placing her fishing rod down and crossing her arms.

"I and many are tired of gruel. Any reprieve, even temporary, would be a relief." Ah right. I take back that previous insult. Maybe it's a good thing I can eat almost anything. Everyone has been sluggish due to a combination of lack of food and Byleth's strict teaching method. Now that I'm thinking of it, perhaps I should avoid Rapahel for a bit. He's been eyeballing me as a predator to prey. I believe I heard him whisper about cooked wolf meat once in my vicinity. Having heightened hearing does not always help as one would expect.

"I know!" The girl points a finger up. "I'll send the fish to the Mess Hall then we can go to the library to find out if there's a way to express yourself!"

I admit that does sound beneficial. There's also the benefit of staying with this girl; she may reveal something to me that might explain why I'm here. Unlikely, but this time I feel like there's progress in some direction.

When we entered the second-floor library, an old monk greeted the girl kindly. "Ah! Flayn, it's good to see you." Flayn? That's her name? The monk looked down at me. "And this must be the infamous wolf, Remus."

Flayn also eyed me when she heard the name. "You're name is Remus? A lovely name!" She turned back to the old monk. "Sir Thomas, it is also good to see you again. I'm here to borrow some books."

"Well, don't let little old me stop you. The library is open to everyone." The man gave a smile and motioned a hand towards the area. Flayn nodded before she and I started to pass by—AH!

What!? What was that!? It was a second, but I felt a chill that reached to the core of my bones. I looked around, but I saw nothing out of the ordinary. What was that? It didn't feel like a temperature change.

"Is something wrong?" Flayn's voice made me look back to her.

I stopped and calmed down. I shook my head then followed after Flayn.

"Remus, you seem smarter than the average wolf!" Flayn pumped her self up as she said this. "And as I said before if you can understand us then that means you can express yourself as well! Is it possible for you to write our language?" She took a scroll of symbols that I had no idea how to read. "See if you can point out symbols to form words!"

I shook my head.

"No?" Flayn tilted her head. "Can you not read?"

I nodded.

Falyn looked as confused as I did when I learned that annoying fact. "How curious. You can understand us, yet you can't read? You grow more curious by the second! How exciting!" Flayn had to lower her voice after realizing she screamed. "Erhm! It is still possible to learn our script. I can only imagine what kind of secrets you're just waiting to unleash!"

"I crave the blood of dead squirrels." That is the first thing I plan to express. It's not pretty, but since I have to deal with that new craving, I'm making sure all of you deal with it too. The next thing would be a demand for cake. Damnit this body carves sweets to a torturous degree!

Flayn began reaching for a book that looked like a colorful kid's book. As she did, my eyes trailed to the right. The memory from before came to me like that of an executioner's ax.

* * *

"Let's start with our alphabet." Flayn turned to what she was expecting to be the wolf. Instead, all she saw was empty air where Remus was previously. She looked for the silver wolf, only to find him trying to climb a bookcase.

"Is something the matter?" Flayn raised her brow when Remus turned to her and barked before trying to climb up the case for a book. The girl reached for a book the wolf seemed to want. "This?" She took the book out. Remus stopped trying to climb the bookcase and nodded his head at her. Flayn was curious and opened up the book to read it's contents. As she skimmed it, she only raised her brow. "This is just a catalog on the church funds?"

Flayn watched as Remus dipped his head down after hearing that. "I find it strange that you would want this book in particular. Is there something about it that strikes you?" The green-haired girl watched as Remus freeze after hearing her question. Then the wolf shook his head. "Are you sure?" Remus nodded. Something told her that there was more to this than he was letting on, but how could she get the info she needed from something that can't express himself?

"Well alright, let's begin with our alphabet!"

* * *

I focus on the task at hand, learning about a new alphabet thanks to the help of Flayn. But in the back of my mind, I knew something was wrong. That book I had Flayn get, it was the same one Dimitri was reading, I was sure of it! I made a mental note to memorize those symbols when I saw it before the first day. Why was he looking at the church funds catalog? What purpose did it serve him? I can't solve these questions in my current state.

I need to take my time.

As time passes, something comes to mind. Flayn doesn't seem to be in any hurry to leave me. She's passionate about making sure I learn how to read, but she's pouring a lot of time and effort into me. It's like she doesn't have anywhere else to be.

Huh, even though she's different personality-wise, she's not all that different from another green-haired young lady I know that's lonelier than she looks. Only, I don't see Flayn surrounded by others that want to flock to her.

... Man is it me or is everyone important-looking just super lonely? Now that I think about it, Rhea also seemed to view me with more emotion than most people.

Huh, okay. As another human, everyone would keep their guard up. But as a wolf? As a wolf that acts like a happy, dumb dog? I've seen everyone lower their guard around animals, and I think it's time I used that advantage.

Alright! Operation: get Flayn a friend is a go! Who could be a good friend for a lonely girl?

... How about another lonely girl that looks sleep-deprived?

Marianne looks like such a sweet girl. During the Golden Deer classes, I always find her glancing over at me and giving me a small smile in return. But the rest of the time she looks so miserable! How fortuitous it is that I spot her right across from where Flayn and I are!

After mentally keeping the symbols for 'apple' in this world, I sped off. Flayn shouted for my name, but thanks to my new speed, I was already a few feet away from Marianne.

"Oh! Mr. Remus?" Aww, she calls me Mister.

"Remus!" Flayn ran after me before stopping in front of Marianne as I did. "I apologize if I'm interrupting you."

"No please, I'm sorry if I bothered you!" Girls, you're both precious. But keep talking; I want to see how well I can get people to interact with each other since I can't speak anymore.

Flayn laughed before continuing, "It seems Remus knows you. May I ask how?"

"I'm a student of his owner. He always greets everyone with a smile, and he's very playful." The blue-haired girl shook her head. "As I said, I am sorry for disturbing you. I'll be going now."

No! No! Don't leave yet! I think you two would make great friends! I ran around her to cut her off before she could excuse herself. Alright, this goes against whatever little manliness I had left even as a human, but I try and make my eyes as big as I can and give the most convincing sad dog look.

"Aww, I think he wants you to stay!" Yes, Flayn! I do!

"But I don't want to bother you." You aren't bothering me at all, sweetie.

"No, not at all!" Flayn smiled. "You see, I was teaching Remus our alphabet!"

"Teaching him," Marianne took a second to process what she heard. "Our alphabet?"

"Yes! He can understand us, but it's not the same in reverse. Therefore, it stands to reason if I teach him this, he'll be able to do some degree of conversation!"

"You don't need to teach him to write and read." Wait-what? "Animals can already express themselves."

"Really?" Flayn's eyes widened as she put a hand over her mouth to cover her gasp.

Marianne turned to me. "Is there something you want to say?"

I blinked before I found myself giving off a few barks.

It was then that the sleep-deprived girl's eyes widened. "You," she paused as if trying to put words coherently together. "crave the blood of dead squirrels? I," She shook her head, "Please don't do that, Mr. Remus."

My jaw dropped. Flayn clasped her hands together and gasped. "You understood him!? Stupendous!"

Many in the library turned to shush the girl after her scream. But both girls had this adorable blush on them after all eyes were on them.

"I-I mean it though!" Flayn did a combination of both screaming and whispering. "How did you understand Mr. Remus?"

"I-um," Marianne looked down, trying to hide her face, but even then I could see how red her ears were. "I need to go! Please forgive me!"

"Wait!" Flayn cried out as the blue-haired girl scurried off. "Another curious case! I must find more about it!" Flayn looked to me and placed the book we were reading down. "Forgive me, Mr. Remus, but this has caught my attention!"

Flayn dropped the alphabet book in front of me before bolting after Marianne. I admit I'm also curious about how she understood me completely. I don't think that was magic. I feel like she was paying close attention to my body movement.

Well, at least Flayn left me the picture book. I can try to learn more about this new alphabet.

"Flayn? Are you here?" My wolf ears caught a familiar voice. I turned around the same time Seteth turned from the corner.

Our eyes locked and I saw Seteth frown hard. "Did you do this?!"

What is he pointing at? Oh. Uh-oh. I forgot that Flayn was so excited that she didn't just pick up one child's book, she picked up like two dozen in hopes I could read them all by the end of the day. But she wasn't very organized, and the books scattered around the table, making it look like a mess.

...A mess that looked like my handy work and not Flayn, who left some time ago.

"Get away from that book! I'm banning you from the Library for sure!"

Okay, that's it, Seteth. I will plot to poop in your bed.

* * *

Huh, it never occurred to me that in this anime/school world, there would be physical education past the combat drilling.

Like... say... dodgeball.

A three-way dodgeball game.

Now here's something interesting: they repaired the mess hall, but they haven't let anyone in yet. Rhea, in her wisdom, decided to allow the winning house first serving in the refurbished dining hall.

It sounds like a simple reward, right? See the problem is almost a month prior, the monastery gave nothing but gruel with the rare fish meals.

Everyone was tired of gruel. Everyone wanted actual food. So it's not too farfetched to say the houses were driven to win more than usual.

For example, Manuela got Alois to join the Golden Deer side for this game. I overheard her wanting, and I am underplaying it, first serve for booze. Then again, Alois is always eager to join anything that looks fun. Professor Hanneman, eager to one-up his significant other, also asked for assistance from a knight. He found one in Thunderstrike Catherine, an acclaimed and powerful knight. Even though she wore Black Eagle loungewear, I could see how muscular she was! I bet she could lift Raphael with one hand!

And then there were the Blue Lions. Byleth didn't have the social sense to ask for help, so it was just her and the Blue Lions.

As for me? I was with the Golden Deers. If you're wondering why I'm with them and not with Byleth, the answer comes with one word: Claude.

When the announcement for the game and the prize came, he innocently asked Byleth if he could borrow me. She saw no wrong and allowed me to go with him.

And then he got Ignatz to make a Golden Deer jersey for a wolf.

See, he argued there were no rules against having a wolf as a team member, which there weren't. The more important reason was to lower the morale of Byleth, and by proxy the Blue Lions when they realize their mascot had been stolen.

I can hear the question in your mind, "Why didn't you just go back to Byleth?"

"Hey, Remus!" I loathed the fact my tail was wagging in excitement when I looked up to Claude in his loungewear. "You've been so well behaved! Here's your reward, buddy!" He took out a pack of jerky and threw it to me. My body jumped for it, and then my traitorous brain released that sweet, sweet dopamine as the taste hit my tongue. It appears that night I saw Claude sneaking out, he was sneaking back to the mess hall for food scraps and found a bag of beef jerky. He had to promise the rest to Raphael after the game win or lose. Otherwise, he'd be tackled by the big lug then and there.

"I told you he was a scamp!" Great, I can still hear Sothis from here. The worst part was Byleth looked disappointed in me! I mean, she still has a mostly blank look on her face, but I know she's disappointed in me!

Rhea and Seteth stood atop a hill that overlooked the three-way game. Rubber balls formed a three-way line that divided the area and zones for the three houses. Oh, and there's a special rule since there are so many people: if you catch a throw, the person who threw it is out, but no one comes in. With this rule up, the game won't drag out too long.

"Let the game," Rhea, with the use of magic, projected her voice through the field. "Begin!"

Well, here we go!

* * *

Many people watched as a silver blur reached the end of the lines and rolled as many balls into the Golden Deer side. This meant that in the first few seconds, the Golden Deer had captured 2/3d's of the rubber ammo while the Black Eagles and Blue lions had to fight for the remaining 1/3.

"Haha! This is working better than I hoped!" Claude cried out as he got a nearby ball and ran back to a safer distance.

One student from the Blue Lions side threw a ball over to the Golden Deer side. Everyone watched as Remus ran under the ball, jumped, and knocked the ball with his nose. The ball changed trajectory and power, and it flew high into the air before it descended easily.

Hilda brought her hands out and, with little effort, caught the ball. She liked the little effort part.

Needless to say, there were many unhinged jaws at that action. Since Hilda caught his throw, the Blue Lion student became the first casualty of the game. Some Black Eagle students tried to aim for the Golden Deers too, but Remus sped ahead and did the same to one of the throws, while the rest missed their marks.

It didn't take long to figure out Remus was a threat to both Black Eagles and Blue Lions.

"Now this looks interesting!" Catherine got a ball and threw it right for the wolf. The ball moved faster than an arrow, and it would no doubt hit anyone if they weren't paying attention for even half a second. But Remus moved out of the way just in time for the ball to bounce and hit a Golden Deer student. The student's stomach was in pain, but he was still in the game. Catherine smirked at the wolf before she had to back up from a counter-attack from the Golden Deers.

"Yes!" Manuela gripped her fist and people swore they could see a fire in her eyes. "First serving is ours!"

"Claude's scheme has certainly granted him a great boon!" Dimitri sidestepped a ball thrown in his direction. "Professor, what do we do?!"

Byleth dodged a ball coming her way before looking back to Remus running on the Golden Deer side. If she knew Remus would do this, she would have put him in the Blue Lion's side.

However, Byleth felt a small tug on her lips. "Who has a ball?!" She looked around while paying attention to any incoming attack on her.

"I do!" Ingrid held the sphere close to her. "What do you need, professor?"

Byleth scanned the area for an attack. "Can you hit a Golden Deer student from here?"

"Yes, but Remus might intercept my throw!"

"Don't worry about him!" Byleth spoke, "Aim and throw! Claude overlooked one thing when he put Remus in his team."

Ingrid looked to Dimitri who nodded in confirmation. Lady Galatea went ahead and threw a ball into the Golden Deer side.

Hilda saw the throw towards her but then saw Remus move. "Eh, he's totally got this! You're my favorite animal, Remus!" Remus ran for the ball with the intent to intercept it like the ones before.

Just before he could, Byleth shouted, "Remus, there's a squirrel!"

The wolf stopped with a slide and looked in the direction Byleth pointed. The ball flew over him and decked Hilda in the side of the head before hitting the ground.

"Wait-What?" Claude and the rest of the Golden Deers turned to see what had just happened.

"Not to worry, Hilda! I shall avenge you!" Alois cried out bravely as he had a ball and ran towards the edge of the line.

Byleth felt a little guilty, but not really. "It's behind you, Remus!"

Then the wolf bolted through Alois' legs. The Knight of Seiros cried out before he lost his footing. When he did, the ball he held flew up in the air before Annette caught it in her hands.

"Well, well," Hubert eyed the action. "It appears the Blue Lions has just turned Claude's advantage into a disadvantage."

That was the nail in the coffin for the Golden Deers. The Blue Lions and some Black Eagle students attacked the Golden Deers. Byleth manipulated Remus to hamper any attack and defense the Golden Deers tried to reestablish with her constant false squirrel claims.

When Lorenz got hit, he turned to Claude with a glare. "For shame on me for thinking your scheme would work this time!"

"Hey, it was a calculated risk!" Claude felt something furry near his legs and looked to Remus panting and looking up at him. "That's twice you ruined my schemes, mutt. I swear you're just bad luck!" The future leader of the Alliance gave an exasperated sigh.

It was then he realized that he looked away from the battlefield. When he looked back, he felt the sting of rubber hit his stomach.

Byleth couldn't help but narrow her eyes and smirk. The professor was proud of Claude for thinking of a great strategy, but she felt bitter about him stealing her pet.

Dimitri pumped his fist. "Yes! Claude is down, and there are less than a dozen people on the Golden Deer side! We can eliminate them in one more push!"

"Milord, look out!" Dedue stood with his arms raised to shield Dimitri from several rubber balls. However, by doing that, Dedue got eliminated from the game taking those hits.

"Dedue!" Dimitri cried out before a good chunk of his team got pelted by rubber balls. "Fall back!" He cried out for the remainder of his house.

"Our plan worked to perfection, Lady Edelgard." Hubert gave a smile as he saw a large portion of Blue Lion students, including a few core members such as Ashe and Sylvain, left the field. "All we needed to do was wait for the Blue Lions to overextend in finishing off the Golden Deers, then deal them a crippling blow! Now it will be easier for us to deal with both houses and secure the win!"

"Catherine and I will finish up the Golden Deers, Edelgard!" Ferdinand von Aegir quickly moved to finish off the last students of the Golden Deer side.

"I should have expected such a move." Byleth looked to Anette who tossed her a ball. "We're going to need to regroup fast before they," Byleth didn't finish as she dodged a hard throw that didn't just hit one student, but four before hitting the ground without anyone able to catch it.

"You got good reflexes!" Catherine swung her arms as if to warm it up. "I've heard a lot about you, Child of the Blade Breaker!" The Knight of Seiros grabbed a ball before throwing it right for Byleth.

Even though dodgeball was a team game, both sides stepped away from the battle between Thunderstrike Catherine and the Ashen Demon. There were more casualties from the missed throws from the two than the two houses against each other. It was so intense, the two singlehandedly eliminated the other students.

Seeing a stalemate, Byleth tried something and scooped up two rubber balls. She tossed one ball high up in the air. Catherine looked up to the ball, wondering why she would toss an easy catch. Then her instincts kicked in as she barely dodged the second ball thrown at her. The first throw was a feint to hide the second throw! Simple but effective; however, it wouldn't work on her! Catherine acted fast and threw a counterattack at Byleth. The professor didn't move fast enough as the ball tagged the side of her foot, eliminating her from the game.

"Yes!" Catherine gripped her fist in victory before she felt a rubber ball bounce off her head and hit the ground. She realized the first throw was the attack, but the second one was meant to be the distraction and put her in position to be hit by the first throw! "Haha! Well played! We'll call it a draw for now then!"

Byleth and Catherine left the field. However, by the time they did, there were only two students left with one on each side.

Edelgard von Hresvelg and Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd.

The two future leaders stared each other down while their teams shouted words of encouragement to them. The two engaged in a fierce battle where balls flew with the speed of arrows launched by snipers. It wasn't like the destructive fight between Byleth and Catherine, but it was still just as fierce. It came to a point where the two future leaders ran closer to the border, aiming for the two closest rubber balls.

They picked their ammo at the same time and threw it. The result?

Both of them eliminated each other at the same time.

"That is game!" Rhea's voice cried out. Everyone wondered who she would declare the winner from that last battle. "The winner is," She gave a pause for everyone to hang on those long, aching moments. "Golden Deers!"

As one can imagine, disbelief filled everyone's faces. Before anything else happened, Rhea pointed over to the side of the Golden Deers. "I see one member remaining on their side!"

Edelgard and Dimitri looked over, as did everyone else. Remus was there, obliviously scratching his ear while the battle was going on.

"YES!" Claude stood up from the eliminated area. "WE WIN!"

The Golden Deers cheered. They all ran up to Remus and lifted him as if he was the MVP even though he did nothing by the end of the game.

"Free cheers for Remus! For the Golden Deer!" Alois, in his exuberance, threw his fist up and shouted that.

"Remus! Remus! Remus!"

"Fear The Deer! Fear The Deer!"

"I knew I could count on you the whole time, you mangy mutt!"

Claude said that last line. Luckily for him, everyone else was cheering too hard to notice his bullshit.

The Black Eagles and Blue Lions were in disbelief. However, they had to accept the reality that they had just lost because they forgot about the dog.

Byleth sighed into her hand. "He's sleeping outside tonight."

* * *

Edelgard wiped the sweat off her head. She invested more in the game that she thought she would.

"El, here's a drink." The Imperial Princess snapped her head towards the direction of the name. The Prince of the Kingdom held two bottles of water and handed on to the white-haired girl.

Edelgard blinked before taking the drink. "That's a name I haven't heard in a while." She looked around, seeing no one in sight or earshot of them.

"I'm glad," Dimitri responded. "I was afraid you forgot."

"Why would I forget such a thing?"

"Forgive me; I meant no ill will," Dimitri still had a small smile on his face. "I understand our circumstances are different now, but I always felt you didn't remember because of how easily you dismissed me at times."

Edelgard thought back to a time where a girl danced with a nervous boy. She failed to fight off a smile in remembrance. However, she sighed before she stood up. "We are in different circumstances now. Thank you, Dimitri, but I will be going now."

The prince couldn't help but frown as he saw Edelgard leave. The imperial princess fought a storm in her mind to not frown as she left Dimitri.

Remus watched the whole thing with interest before leaving to find Byleth.

* * *

A/N: WHAT TEAM!?

WILDCATS!

WHAT TEAM!?

WILDCATS!

WILDCATS! GET YOUR HEAD IN THE GAME!

Yes, I too thought of that meme when I saw it. So did the rest of the internet. Thank you, DLC, for helping write this chapter. I had a huge writer's block before I saw the Loungewear.

Not only did I reference High School musical, but I also referenced Air Bud, those old 90's movies where a dog plays sports. At this point, this whole fic is an ingenious plot to steal all dog-related jokes ever made in media. My next goal is to fit a Scooby-doo reference when you least expect it.

Did you notice that I made people interact that don't usually interact? Marianne and Flayn? Dimitri and Edelgard? (It's made a little unclear between the Black Eagles and the Blue Lions route if Edelgard remembers Dimitri. I assumed she did in both times.) Consider them my fan versions of their C-support! I think it would be a fun challenge to write about people together who don't have support conversations with each other. I also took the liberty of giving Christophe, Ashe's dead brother, some personality and backstory. I hope you like where I take it.

Also, this chapter proved what I promised. This story is not going to focus solely on one house. The Golden Deers won the dodgeball game even though Byleth is with the Blue Lions.

But fun time is over. We're soon meeting up with Kostas and his crew. I know you all hate OCs. But this story is just for fun. I promise there's a reason for him and only him existing.


	6. Silver Meets Ash

**Author Notes**: I really wish that I didn't have to get inspired by DLC to write this story.

Still, with how busy my life is now, I just decided to make this for fun.

After hearing and playing the Fire Emblem Three Houses DLC, I can finally start this chapter and end that horrible writer's block!

* * *

When I first laid eyes on you, what else could I do but bow in your presence? What else could I do but be humbled and in awe that your smile silenced my thoughts and soothed my soul? You welcomed me, a starving and dying stranger, into your paradise, and you showed me how small we all truly were.

At that time, I would have died for you. I would have pledged my entire bloodline to you.

Then the questions came.

I tried to ignore them, but like termites, they ate away the foundation of my consciousness.

"If you could heal the sick, why were my people dying and suffering?"

"If you could feed the hungry, why did so many of my people starve?"

"If you could make the earth bountiful, why create men who can be killed by its fury?"

"And if you are eternal, why did my sister die alone?"

The worst question came after all of them.

"You can do more, can't you?"

With everything you showed me, with how the world itself bowed in your presence, it felt like you spat on the face of those who were not your children.

Faith never dies overnight. It decays slowly, shriveling up into the tiniest speck until one day you realize you aren't staring at a goddess.

You're staring at a demon.

I swore vengeance upon my realization. I abandoned my name and took up the word in your tongue that brought fear upon you sycophants.

My new name...

* * *

"Lord Arundel, Lord Lanato will see you now."

The man continued to stare at the window, or rather, he looked for something his eyes couldn't show him. He turned to the guard and responded, "Thank you. I will enter posthaste."

Lord Volkhard von Arundel walked into Lord Lanato's study. There, he gave a polite bow, "I am honored to meet—"

"Enough of the formalities," Lord Lanato stood up and walked with too much purpose towards the Lord from the Empire. "Is what you say true? My son was falsified in his case?"

For the first time since he entered Gaspard, Volkhard showed a facial expression: he raised his brow. "Forgive me for assuming, but I was of the impression that you believed me. You have been raising your army in secret for the past several years."

Lord Lanato was old, but he was very tall for his age. Volkhard noticed this fact as the Lord of Gaspard stood over him. "I want an answer. Lord Arundel?" The pause before his name showed that the name came like an afterthought.

Many men would have flinched under Lord Lanato. Lord Arundel only blinked. " Your son pursued the true culprits of the Duscur Massacre and found a clue that pointed to the Central Church. That was why they silenced him. The papers I showed you were true." The ones they wanted to show him.

For one second, Lord Arundel mistook Lanato for a volcano about to explode. He turned and placed his hands on his desk. For the briefest of moments, Lord Arundel imagined the man throwing his desk out of the window. He didn't quite believe his eyes when the warrior lord did not do such a thing.

"Even if I mobilized an army, there is no possible way for me to match the power of the Knights of Seiros." Lord Lanato pressed his weight into the desk.

Lord Arundel stepped forward. "Are you aware of the tale, The Mouse and the Snake? The snake thought himself superior to the mouse in every way until the mouse challenged him to a race. Unkown to the snake, the mouse used a secret shortcut to outmaneuver his opponent."

The creaking on the stressed table stopped. "What does that mean?"

"A child's tale can mean many things, Lord Lanato," This time, Volkhard moved his lips to a smile. "To win, sometimes you don't need to be stronger or faster, you need to be smarter." He stepped forward towards Lord Lanato. At the same time, a cloud obscured the sun and darkened the room. "I find it fortunate that while we can't lend you extra forces, we can offer you a special gift in assaulting the Central Church."

Now it was Lord Lanato's turn to raise his brow. "Gift?"

"The end of that tale describes the snake owing a favor to that mouse." For a second, Lord Arundel's eyes seemed to glow in the darkness. "We give you that favor, Lord Lanato. Use it wisely."

The Lord of Gaspard did not understand until he heard hissing noises around the room.

* * *

You don't make deals with devils. Kostas made two deals with different devils. Do not follow his example unless you want a similar fate.

"Ah," The voice was calm despite the blood-curdling screams that surrounded him. "It seems as if this batch didn't work as well."

Several of those screams were silenced with great haste by the sound of flesh rending and blood splattering.

"I had really high hopes for this concoction. What went wrong? Was the blood too sterile?" Rocks exploded, and dust clouds formed in the distance.

"Either way, I apologize dearly, Kalipso. It seems the elixir was a failure," The owner of the voice paused. "I did warn you that my elixir was experimental, right? And there was a chance of it failing?"

Something inhuman roared in response.

"Yes. Yes. I guess I'll have to start from scratch. Now? Where did I put that warp staff?"

* * *

There isn't much for me to do but bum around the blasted private school a hundred bloody times. Flayn is too distracted by trying to hunt down Marianne while Byleth is busy teaching three classes and going on seminars with the other two teachers. The other dogs have been trying to sniff my butt, and I'm finding out I might be into that. So in other words, I am now insane without the breakdown. Twas only a matter of time.

I suppose it's a good thing that the school feels slow. It gives me more time to figure out how things spiral down five years from now. The blasted thing is that I have made near no progress in anything!

"Is this all you do, mutt? You just wander around the school grounds all night looking for scraps of food? Doesn't Byleth feed you enough, you gluttonous beast?"

I ain't looking for food you pointy-eared, jail-baiter!

"I don't know what you're saying, but I don't like your tone!" Then why the bloody hell are you following me around?! There are other places to haunt, you Narcoleptic Spectre!

Ugh! Why is Sothis following me around!? I can't concentrate! I know I heard something last night that felt like it came from underground! Considering this place has a Hogwarts feel to it, I bet my sister's lunch money that there's a secret entrance around here!

But where? I've been traveling around the school for almost two months! I now this place is gigantic, but does this mean I have to look through every single nook and cranny—

Wait. I seem to recall something like this happening before. My mother once stormed the house in search of her glasses, but she didn't realize she had them atop of her head. What if I'm doing something like that? I'm looking everywhere except where I'm supposed to? The last place I'd look for a secret passage would be near Byleth's room, if not in the room itself. I suppose I might as well check there.

Sothis and I end up heading back to Byleth's room. However, Sothis suddenly froze and stared at a dead-end to the side before we reached the room. Before I could bark at her, my sense of smell picked up something. It was faint, but it felt like there was a scent behind that wall. I never would have noticed that if Sothis didn't look over there. I'm usually running around the place at full speed to really stop and look. I suppose I'm like me mum after all.

"I thought I heard something," Sothis spoke in a daze. I watched her float towards the wall and phase through it. Ah yes, I can totally follow the ghost girl through walls. Hmm? The stones at the bottom of the wall, they looked scratched as if something dragged over them.

This could be it! I glanced around, making sure I carefully and slowly observed the wall in front of me. One of the bricks smelled different from the others. After pressing on it, I stared in awe as the walls opened up to reveal a pathway to some underground cavern.

Wow, there really was a secret passage right under my nose. Speaking of my nose, a multitude of scents hit my nose, and not one of them smells promising in a good way.

I sighed.

But I was complaining that things have been too slow lately. This might finally give me a clue as to what's going on with this world or my arrival here. Even as a wolf, I can still somehow put my foot in my mouth.

It seemed like the wall was timed, as it started to close not long after I activated the switch. Without wasting a moment, I rushed in before the doors closed behind me... wait a second. I don't see a way to activate the wall again from this side. The smell here is stronger, and I can't tell which new brick I'd have to push to activate the walls again. Did I lock myself in this secret passageway?

"There you are!" I turned my neck towards Sothis, who seemed to be struggling to move down the hallway. It was like no matter how she tried, she could fly further down. "It seems as if I can't fly further away from either you or Byleth. So do me a favor and move it already! We must explore this secret passage!"

Great, I have to deal with her the whole way through. So that's why people say be careful what you wish for: it might come true in a way you don't want it.

As we made our way down, I wondered what was the purpose of these underground tunnels. I remember back in my world that there were cities built over underground ruins. With how some of these corridors looked so old, I'm assuming that these were built during the early stages of the Monastery? The more we moved down, I've spotted ruined statues of some noble-looking warriors. They must be the saints I've heard Byleth research some times.

...If I was back in my human form, I would have been stupidly scared going down a dark cave with danger coming at me with any second. As a wolf, I don't know why, but I'm calmer down here.

And then Sothis ruined the atmosphere by talking again. "Keep moving, mutt! Something feels too familiar down here! I feel as if there's some kind of clue to my mysterious circumstance here!"

I stopped for a second and looked at her. I wasn't expecting her to also be looking for answers.

Sothis stopped as well and looked over to me. "W-What's with that look!? There is something imperative that I must learn!"

I tilted my head.

She pouted and threw her arms down like a child that was told they couldn't buy the toy they wanted. "You scamp! I don't need to explain a thing to you! If you listen to Byleth, then you must listen to me!"

"Hey, did ya hear something?" The two of us stilled when we heard the sound of a different voice coming from the end of the hallway.

"Don't scare me, man. It's scary enough down here." My ears picked up footsteps for over a dozen people. Not only that, I heard the clanking of metal. Specifically, the way swords, lances, and other weapons clank while they're being carried. Seeing as how I've been a school that practices how to fight, and the fact I've been traveling with a mercenary group, my ears know the distinct sound of weapons being carried.

I moved forward as quietly as I could. I don't know about Sothis, but I spotted a group of... mercenaries? I know I haven't seen them at Garreg Mach. How did they get down here? How did they know about this place when I know a large majority of people in the school and church don't!

"No ghost is going to stop us! They say there's treasure somewhere in this place called Abyss!"

"Treasure? Abyss?" Sothis repeated before we shared a look. Her eyes sparkled with determination. It was obvious this was some kind of clue to the feeling she had. "You must follow them!"

There wasn't much of a choice anyway, so I tailed after the group of mercenaries. Thanks to my senses, I was able to tail them in such a way they would never spot me. However, the more we tailed after them, the more it felt like we were heading somewhere that felt... what's the word? Habitated? No that can't be right.

"Why are there so many torches lit in this area?" Sothis looked up to a headless and worn-out statue of Saint Serios. "It feels like other people have been living here? What? Are there mole people here?"

Honestly, with how Awakening dealt with zombies, how Ike's games handled transforming animal people, and how I recalled how a trailer for Three Houses had some mechanical guardian, mole people might be a legitimate danger in this bloody world.

I froze when I heard the mercenary party stop in their tracks.

"What was that?" My ears picked up one of them say that. "Did you hear that?"

I hid behind the statue and made sure that I wasn't spotted by them. I really hope they didn't hear me.

"Not this again!" "No, no! This is different! Something might be here—"

What? Did I just hear a click?

My ears picked up something whizzing in the air. My nose smelled blood at the same time my ears heard a splatter. My stupid brain realized that information meant an arrow just pierced the dude's head. Sothis and I looked up from our hiding spot, and sure enough, we saw the mercenary group started to panic when one of their own got shot in the head. My ears picked up simultaneous clicks coming from the right of the mercenary group.

I saw the volley of arrows coming from a dark corner of the wall.

They didn't.

I turned away, but my ears and my nose painted a picture of their blood painting the floors and walls.

"It appears this place is rigged for defense. A bit tasteless, but better them than us."

I can't help but agree with Sothis on that. However, I heard several grunts and screams, which meant that some of that battalion was still alive. At that point, my ears picked up a larger fighting force rushing out of places my ears didn't believe.

"Well well, what do we have here?" Claude? No, wait. This one sounds more sinister. "I welcome all intruders to the Abyss. I hope you're comfortable, you'll be here for a long time."

I heard some of the mercenaries scream, some in fear and tried to run away, braver ones ran forward with battle cries. I heard the humming of magic, and after a few seconds, I heard no more of the mercenary group we were following.

Ouch. Poor guys. Wait, they said they were looking for treasure. And the guys that killed them, are they the protectors of that rumored treasure? Did I stumble on to an Indiana Jones-esque subplot in anime-medieval world while I'm going through a fanfiction-cliche?

Common Sense is a bipolar mistress.

"This sucks! I didn't get a fight out any one of them!"

"Don't be too sure... You there! Behind the statue! Show yourself!"

And Luck is her stoned-as-hell, drug-dealer roomie.

For obvious reasons, I don't want to step out and face whatever's waiting for me behind the statue.

"I see. Well, I won't fault you for being too shy." I don't like how this guy's tone sounds amused. I especially don't like how I'm hearing another magical hum from all the way here!

"Move, mutt!" Sothis didn't need to tell me as I bolted away from the statue before a magical blast exploded from the base of the statue. Smoke covered the area and I saw the old statue start to fall towards m—

* * *

As smoke filled the area, the warriors of Abyss watched patiently.

"These guys just never learn, do they?" A red-haired girl complained.

"It matters little! Even if they were to send millions, we of the Ashen Wolves would always win!" A blonde-purple-haired young woman declared.

"Let's not be too hasty," A purple-haired and purple-eyed young man spoke up. "That straggler might have survived. Balthus, go and check it out."

"Why me!?" The one known as Balthus cried out.

"You said you wanted action. You get to go check to see if the coast is clear."

"Not what I had in mind, Yuri," The taller man spoke up as he walked towards the dead bodies.

As he reached the area, he noticed the dust cloud was still covering the area. The large man suddenly stopped in his tracks. His instincts screamed at him that something was wrong.

It was a good thing he wore steel gauntlets. His body was already moving before his mind could process what was going on. A sword flew out of the smoke and it was thrown right for his face. Yet, Balthus' hands moved with enough force and speed to slam the sword away and flying in the air.

"Okay! Looks like I'm gonna get a fight after all!" Balthus shifted into a fighting stance, ready for whatever was coming his way.

He, nor the others of the Ashen Wolves, expected an actual wolf to jump out of the smoke, grab the thrown blade by its handle, and descend like a meteor on an unsuspecting Balthus. At the last second, the large man regained his senses and rolled out of the way of the animal with a weapon.

"What in the eternal flames!?" Balthus shouted before he saw the wolf running fast enough to outpace the large man's eyes. He stepped back when he saw the Wolf had already closed the distance between them without him noticing. Balthus stepped back forward and threw a punch right for the wolf. Now despite his size, Balthus had a punch as fast an arrow shot by a world-class snipper. However, the problem was the wolf avoided it almost as if he was baiting the strike in the first place. Balthus realized something as he punched the ground with his fist: the gauntlet pierced through the ground and got stuck. This left Balthus open for the wolf to rush in with the sword aimed right for his nec—

In an instant, where Balthus should have been, the purple-haired man appeared in a flash of light. The purple-haired man parried the wolf's blade, but the wolf jumped back, snarling and growling as he did.

"Holy!" Balthus found out he was in the same spot as his friend was awhile ago. "Thanks for the save, Yuri!"

"We must help!" The blonde-purple-haired girl cried out, only for Yuri to throw his hand out.

"No, stop!" Yuri threw his hand out to them, motioning them to stop. He surprised everyone when he looked at the wolf and dropped his sword to the ground.

"Yuri-bird, what are you doing!?" "I am with Hapi on this! Have you lost your mind!?" Two girls screamed, but the man named Yuri focused his eyes towards the wolf.

"Hey there, buddy," Yuri spoke as he moved his hands towards a pouch. He slowed down when he saw the wolf tense as his hand moved. "Easy there. I'm sorry for scaring you a while ago. I really thought you were with those mercenaries."

Yuri was able to pick up a pouch with something wet at the bottom. He opened it up, and putrid scent filled the area around the two. "Smell that? It's a fresh, dead rabbit. I know you wolves eat those."

Yuri, even though he was starting to sweat, watched the wolf sniff the air. He was able to kneel and hold out the dead rabbit body. "Come on. Think of this as a peace offering. You're a wolf; we're wolves. Why can't we get along?"

The wolf continued to growl in anger. However, unknown to everyone, someone else spoke to the wolf.

"Mutt! It's alright! They aren't going to hurt us anymore! Mutt? ... Remus, snap out of it!"

The name seemed to snap the wolf out of his frenzy. Yuri spotted the eyes of the wolf calm down but still kept his guard up. The wolf blinked and dropped the blade he was carrying. Slowly, the wolf came up to Yuri. Everyone watched as the wolf sniffed the rabbit then started bitting on it. The purple-haired young man released a breathe he didn't know he was holding. As he spotted the wolf eating the rabbit, he found himself petting the wolf while it ate.

As the wolf looked up and smiled back at him, Yuri couldn't help but return a smile of his own. "There we go. Wolves always stay in packs."

* * *

"Huh! This is most fortuitous!" Sothis mused beside me as I followed this Yuri fellow back to these people who called themselves the Ashen Wolves.

"Now we have a chance to explore this Abyss and find that treasure they're guarding!"

I looked up to Sothis with confusion. Why is she bent on this treasure? She's a bloody ghost! When Sothis looked back at me, I saw her tone shift.

"W-Well, seeing as how you're the only one here who can hear me, I suppose I can reveal my machinations." She sighed deeply before she looked at me with the most serious face I've ever seen from her. "I've been having these strange dreams lately."

I almost stopped in my tracks, but by pure instinct, I kept walking until Yuri and me got up to his allies. Wait, she also had dreams as I did?

Whatever they were saying about me, I couldn't quite pay attention to it. Sothis continued on, "I don't know why, but I've had strange dreams of... I don't exactly know. Whenever I'd wake up, I'd forget everything but a sense of fear and dread." I felt my heart skip five seconds. Sothis and I were having the same forgotten nightmares? There is no way that's a coincidence. "I feel like something is hunting me down, or maybe it has? When I reversed time with Byleth, I saw something that troubled me."

My ears picked up something about Yuri and some others wanting to keep me. Unfortunately, my brain was too focused on Sothis spilling her feelings to the one being she knew could speak.

"The flow of time, I don't know why, but it felt corrupted. I could still rewind time, but I felt something wrong about it that I just couldn't put together." Sothis folded her arms and looked away. "When we came here, I felt some kind of shift. I don't know how to explain it, but you did something, mutt. I feel like you might be a clue to something I cannot grasp. This treasure might be helpful in a mystery that even I do not know."

Well, so that's why Sothis was so interested in this. It's the same as me then. There's something wrong with this world, and if a being that can manipulate time says something is wrong, I am more than royally bum-rushed.

But then that means so is everyone else here.

Well then, I suppose it's time to save the world! Who can pass up the chance to be a hero? I can't quite promise I'll be a hit with it though... Still, it's either that or a horrible death. For clarity's sake, I am not a fan of the latter.

"It's decided!" I spotted the loud girl shout with pride. "The Ashen Wolves shall take on an actual ashen wolf! It is a sign that we are destined for greatness!"

"I still don't know about this, Yuri-bird," The redhead looked over to me. "Are you sure it's a good idea to keep him?"

"I admit, I usually distrust everyone I meet," The one known as Yuri spoke up before looking over to me. "But even I find the idea of us meeting an actual ashen wolf to be some kind of interesting sign."

"As long as he doesn't wield a blade near my neck, I'm all aboard for this!" Balthus gave off a hearty laugh before rubbing my head with more force than I'm used to. Good on him to not hold grudges, but if he keeps this up, I will be the one to hold a grudge.

"We'll talk more about this later," Yuri spoke up. "We need to reset the traps and pilfer whatever goods we can get from the mercenaries."

I assumed he was the leader. With how everyone obeyed his word, it was easy to confirm that theory. Soon, I followed these 'Ashen Wolves' to what I hoped was the Abyss.

I now had a mission. With Sothis by my side, we would find the Treasure of Abyss!

... Hold on a tick.

Am I forgetting something?

* * *

Byleth woke up that morning feeling more peaceful than usual. This was somewhat disconcerting. She spotted the reason for this discomfort: she couldn't spot Remus sleeping beside her bed. He always greeted her in the morning. That was always followed by Sothis' attempts to get Remus to do whatever she said.

She had gotten so used to this routine. But now that it was gone, she couldn't help but worry.

"... Sothis, did you see where Remus went?"

...

"Sothis?"

* * *

**A/N**: This has been an eye-opening experience. The DLC made me realize a few of my headcanons were wrong. That's fair in all honesty. Still, I'm sticking with it for this story and hopefully, my direction is still going to be fun.

I am glad that I made this story before the Ashen Wolves were announced. And the next chapter is going to explore Abyss with Remus and Sothis.

I'm having these two paired up for something down the line. I hope you'll enjoy it.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this story. I'm still surprised this is so well-liked even though I just have fun with this. Thanks for reading, see ya soon!


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